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Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 2071, 7:30 PM, Twisters, Redmond

The spirit pondered the scene in the distance,"I am no expert on the comings and goings of humans, but I see a man by a vehicle, he looks calm, and more vibrant than others, there is a building with many people on top of it, they do not seem special here"

Ferret's body falls to the floor with a flop, and the clattering of a machine pistol that rolls down the sloping floor into a dark corner. "what the hell is going on man" yells the clubber, swinging his piece wildly. Rusty's other hand appeared from under his coat with some kind of home made cattle prod. It swung up to the Green faced man's chest, and shook him like a rag doll. The kid's hand clinched the gun as a reflex and squeezed off a shot. The bullet ricocheted through some fallen light fixtures and Strawberry screamed again. Rusty yelled at the girl,"You take care of him" He looked to Thirty,"We need to get out of here"

In Virtual reality, Ferret lunged at the mechanical cobra sinking his teeth into the beast's tail. The viper turned from its swaying in front of the firewall, and Spit an oily venom at his assailant.
Acme
Friday, Sept. 2071, 7:30 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Acme was distracted by his studying of the Astral, the background feeling so icky that he was just trying to huddle in a mental corner to avoid getting touched by it. As the bullet zinged over his head, he blinked back to the physical world, pulling his Predator out of his jacket and looking around for a defensive position. Ferret was on the ground, but he didn't seem to be bleeding, and the target was pointing to Thirty it seemed. "Well come on then, let's beat feet!" he yelled out, sliding to his knees to help Ferret, to see if the hacker was still living or had been hit by something.
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Jovan nodded and spoke quickly and quietly into his subvocal mike, putting the Shakespeare to the side for the moment. This was not the time for historical and academic sophistication. <<@team: You four, heed my words. My elemental is unable to locate your exact location, but be warned. In your general vicinity, there is someone standing by some sort of vehicle who doesn't look to be from Redmond, and whose calmness may indicate him as a security concern for you. There is also a large number of people on one of the rooftops in your area, whose auras look more like ones local to your area. So watch yourselves as you evacuate. Now if who I think is Rusty is trying to flee with you without Strawberry or the other one, you must try to bring all three of them with you. We don't want to let them fall into the hands of this hacker or the other team, if the one is not in fact part of the other.>>
Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:29 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

The chatter in the remote bar room sounded like chaos. Quite exciting I suspect.
<<@Ferret: Is he in your Node yet? If so has he found you? If not, can you trace him? Bah.. whatever. You should either turtle up and cut your signal to boot the son of a bitch if he's inside. If not, just spoof yourself a new access ID and he'll have to start his hack again from the top. Well, actually, that trick works even if the guy is up in your business. Just dumps all connections. Rinse and repeat as needed. Just shoot me the new ID before you spoof and I'll reconnect with you to keep comms open. Regardless, that hole isn't the place you want a confrontation. Not if you can help it. In the mean time, can you give me the access ID the intruder is using? I'd be more than happy to fly my gun over there, find his node and put one in his skull.>>

Figuring stealth has gone busto, Oswald starts the blimp moving towards Twisters and the Glow City main drag.
<<Guess it's time I made the scene. Air support on the way.>>
HugeC
Friday, Sept. 2071, 7:30 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Thirty can't help but look a bit surprised as Rusty shocks Crew, but he quickly recovers, nods to Rusty and says, "I'll carry this one," looking at Ferret's collapsed form. He mentally disengages the electromagnet attaching Kanjin's scabbard to his belt, reaching back to catch it as it slides out the back of his jacket. Swiftly, he reattaches it to one of the decorative studs on his right shoulder, and then bends down to scoop up Ferret, tossing him over his left shoulder in a fireman's carry.

As he makes his way towards the exit, he casts a glance over his shoulder at Strawberry and says, "It's not safe here. Come with us or find somewhere else to hide." Then he draws his Predator and takes a peek outside, looking up at nearby rooftops for the possible threats Jovan mentioned, keeping to the cover of the building for the moment until he is satisfied it is safe.
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 2071, 7:30 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Professor rushes to Strawberry and Crew and helps her prop up the stunned man. "Come with us. It's not safe for you to be alone here. I'll help." The two of them manage to get Crew up and prepare to follow the others.

"Is there a back way out of here? Maybe with some cover?"
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:30 PM, Twisters, Redmond

The chromed ferret sinks code sharp teeth into the snake, tearing off a chunk of data. Ferret then twists and dodges as the snake spits toxic code at his icon. I think I actually did some damage there. But only because he wasn't expecting an attack. Frag, I hate cybercombat.

<<@Oswald: He's trying to get in. Will terminate connection then trace.>>

<<@Viper: Get off my lawn.>>

<<@System: Full active alert. Terminate hostile connection designated {Viper}.>> Mmm, wasn't there a Viper-something in BDLL's crew?

Icons swirl around him as he picked up from the ground. <<@Thirty: Don't forget my gun. I think I dropped it when I went hot-sim.>>
Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Twisters, Redmond

"What's going on?" mumbles Swagger J, staring up at the Commlink dangling overhead.
In Twisters, the same sentiment is felt by many. Acme Feels Ferret breathing before Thirty scoops him up. At the front door, Thirty peeks outside. the streets are pretty busy. The parking deck across the street is crawling with people, including the roof. The glow of small fires dance all over. As far as someone standing by a vehicle, nothing is standing out. there are a few beat up cars on the road, some working, some not. Strawberry responds to Professor's question,"Yea, head through the stock room" She points as she tries to wake up her friend who is moaning softly. On the other side of the room is a thin doorway. The door itself lay in pieces. Rusty was following the ork to the front when he heard the others discussing the rear exit. He grabbed the helmet off the floor and paused to see what the plan was going to be."Whoever trashed this club could have killed those kids already. I think it would be safer to leave them here", he said out loud to no one in particular

Ferrets operating system manages to terminate the hackers connection, but as he loads his tracking program, his firewall begins to report more unauthorized activity. Its a race to track this guy down before he's back in the system again.
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Professor thinks through Rusty's comment. <<@Team: Trouble is, they now have spoken to us. Whoever is out after us or our mutual traget may want info about us from them, however they can get it. I need some feedback here, partners. Leave them or hide them?>>
Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

The blimp had made it to the Glow City strip in about a minute of full speed. <<@Team: Eyes on the scene. Route all comms through me again. If you all, except Ferret, slave up to the Skypod, our channel should be protected. In the mean time, Ferret can trace the guy and I'll just scout the area for nodes to see if any of them match up with the ID Ferret sent me for his intruder. Also, if anyone tries to shoot at you guys, just get to cover, and I'll make them hurt plenty.>>
Acme
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Acme feels good about Ferret as Thirty picks him up, and stands. <@team I don't know if we can take the time to stash them anywhere. We'll just have to trust that all they know is our names, general descriptions, and that we were really after Rusty. They don't know where we live or anything...>
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

<<@team: Leaving that sort of thing to chance is an imprudent idea, methinks. I think it best to take them with us for now, question them about the other team, and let them run off on their merry way with Jay afterwards. They'd probably owe us a favor for saving their lives after that, too. Shall I ask our prisoner what he thinks we should do?>>
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31:10 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Ferret's claws skitter across the surface of his commlink's node looking for the digital snake. From a distance, the node normally appear to be a smooth chrome sphere. Right now it is pulsing a deep red colour in sync with the sirens and the digitized female voice calmly announcing 'Active alert. Unauthorized access attempt in progress.'

Ferret spots the snake near his input ports, tearing hunks of data out of the sphere's surface as it attempts to break through the firewall. The meat Ferret grits his teeth, while the chromed one hunkers down flat against the cool surface of the node. His nose twitches frantically as his trace program works to sniff out the snake's location. Come on, come on! YES!

<<@Oswald: Oz, here's the snake's ID and location: {data}. Send him a 50 cal present if he's in range. I'll keep him busy here.>>

<<@Van: Activate autopilot / go straight ahead 500m / take next available right turn / take the following right / plot a course back to me.>>
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Professor makes up his mind. This is a rarity for someone who always looks for more data. "These are innocents, caught up in a deadly game. Bringing them with us might get them hurt. Leaving them here will almost certainly bring them trouble from the other team, once we ditch them. And we know they are not interested in the well-being of bystanders. I'm bringing the two of them with me. Back door looks good to me. I'm going out that way. The three of us will make our way back to Ferrets' car. Oswald, feel free to blow away anything that gets in our way."

He starts the group towards the back door. On the way he switches control of his commlink channel as per Oswald's instructions.
HugeC
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Thirty takes a moment to find Ferret's gun, freezes briefly as he tries to figure out how to pick it up with his hands full, then puts his own pistol in his pocket, picks the SMG up and stuffs it into Ferret's coat pocket dangling over his shoulder, and finally grabs his own weapon again before following Professor out the back.
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Took them long enough to get out of there, Jovan thought as he reached out and summoned another, more powerful air elemental from astral space. Spirit. In the sky some ways ahead of us there should be a large ovoid shadow floating in the astral plane. There is also a building with many metaphysically unhealthy people on it and one person on the ground whose aura is abnormally healthy for this poisonous area. There is also a group of four healthy-looking metahumans, at least two of them Awakened, who should be escorting two or three more typical-looking metahumans somewhere around there as well. I need you to get into a position where you have a good bird's-eye view of that scene, such as in the sky above the background count or something similar, and let me know where the single peculiar man is and whether you see our four metahuman companions.

<<@team: Another pair of eyes heading in your direction. What is the situation with the hacking intruder? Please try not to blow him up just yet if we are to kill him; I'd prefer to do that myself, in person.>>
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31:10 PM, Twisters, Redmond

Professor hesitates a half-step as the import of Jovan's request sinks in. Fuck. And we're the good guys.

He pauses at the back door and scans the outside, looking for threats, searching both the physical and the astral.
Acme
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31:10 PM, Twisters, Redmond


Acme reluctantly does one more astral sweep of the area as the group gets packed up. Professor made some good logic in keeping them, and he frowned, wondering if he was even adding anything to the group dynamic. Helping Thirty with Ferret and his possessions, Acme slid out the back door and going with the flow.
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:31:20 PM, Twisters, Redmond

On the street, Ferret's van rumbles into life with the everyday creepiness of a driverless vehicle. Headlights light up like menacing eyes as the van's autopilot and sensor suite come online. The steering wheel turns of its own accord and the big van pulls cautiously out into the street, picking it's way carefully around obstacles, debris and potholes.

In the matrix, things are less calm. Ferret's thoughts flash angrily through his mind at machine speed. His biofeedback filter powers up as he screams angrily at the snake.

<<@Viper: I fragging warned you to get offa my node.>>

He launches himself at the snake, claws and teeth raking at the icon. As he bites down, he can almost taste the data that makes up the snake's form. It tastes like blood.
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:32 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

The alleyway behind Twisters is a jumble of garbage, wooden pallets and rubble. It takes longer than Professor expected to check for trouble. Better safe than sorry, though. The rooftops above the alleyway are particularly important. Ambushes in urban environments seem to often come from above.

Strawberry has an odd look on her, gazing directly into Professor's face. It's been a long time since anyone called her innocent.
Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:32 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Oswald had tuned out most of what the Professor said as his Math SPU was grinding through telemetry data, trying to calculate an optimal approach based on the likely trajectory he'd have to use. He did most definitely get the important part as it concerned himself, namely the authorization of deadly force. But it did seem like there was too much panic and not enough paranoia on the ground.
<<Don't go assuming anything about another team here. This is way too sloppy to be Ares, slamming into Ferret's firewall like that. Hell, let's not even assume that it's a person doing that. If I wanted to panic a bunch of guys, (such as yourselves,) whom I immediately pegged as tourists by analyzing their links, (which is cake,) then I'd just take a shitty toss-link, move my agent into it and have it blast away on the biggest wall I could find in the group, knowing full well that it would raise an alarm. Meanwhile I'm nowhere near that toss-link when it's traced, but am instead sitting pretty, waiting for the marks, (such as yourselves,) to run out the back and into my killzone. Guess it's a good thing it takes decades of practice to get as mean as I am. If I was trying to herd you, I'd have put some bullets in the front door by now with one of my drones. Still, be very, very careful, and make sure to ask those poor schmucks about how many people shot up their place the other night. That information is immediately useful.>>
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:32 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Professor may be naive, but he is nothing if not a quick study. As long as he's quicker than that first bullet, he has no problem.

"Strawberry, how many thugs messed up your place the other night? Might be good to know right now." He tries to look in all directions, all dimensions, at once. Then it struck him. There in the alleyway waiting for a sniper to snuff him. Astral perception doesn't use sense organs. There should be no directionality. Why has there been no study done to determine the full functionality of astral perception? It should be omnidirectional. Of course it would require a fundamental shift in the perceptual networks of the mind, but it should be doable. Omni-directional perception. This is important ...

Shit. First try living till tomorrow, moron.
Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Strawberry crunched over some garbage as she made her way into the Alley. The way this dwarf looked at her made her uncomfortable,"I think there were four of them, But I think that it only took two of them to lay waste to the opposition and start wrecking the place."
Rusty followed behind the elf," I know Big Daddy didn't want to cause you guys this kind of trouble Straw," He helped drag the green faced kid through the alley,"I hope you guys got a big van, we're quite the little tour group here"
Professor didn't spot any trouble yet, But it was still quite a few meters before they hit the street. There were definitely people in the ally, but most seemed more suspicious of him than the other way around. The light was fading quickly now, and activity in the shadows seemed to be increasing. Ferret's body twitched slightly on Thirty's back, as the large swordsman carried him out of the club. Online, The clockwork cobra worked to slither back into Ferret's system. There was no response to the metal rodent's taunts. The hacker's location had been sent to Oswald, who was now calculating where to strike. He had it narrowed down to a few meters, but as the blimp drew closer, he found his target to be somewhere in the tent city that filled the parking deck across the street. It looked like the second floor, as close to Twisters as possible. The people in view didn't look like marks, but the hacker could be disguised, or, just as likely, an abandoned commlink in a pile of human refuse.

Jovan's new spirit took to the sky as his old one faded away,"A vehicle is rolling away, and your man is moving quickly to the south, And running between buildings. I have lost him, shall I follow your awakened friends, or look for this man? From this distance, It is difficult to follow either"
Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

The clockwork cobra dodges a lunge from the steel Ferret, and silently retaliates. They tumble together like the classic Mongoose verses cobra battles from the trids. Ferret manages to sink his teeth into the beast's neck. The snake is looking distorted and dripping code errors. It tries to spit back, but the attempt was completely ineffective. Ferret notices that this hacker seems to be relentless, yet not very creative.
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Ferret's meat body twitches on Thirty's shoulder. His chromed self had got in a good strike, ripping out the snake's digital throat, but he had left himself open to the snake's counterattack. His head pounded with the feedback. Ugh, this is why I hate matrix combat..

Even badly damaged, the snake seemed unwilling to retreat. Ferret wondered for a moment if it might be an agent, but focused on crashing it for now. His chromed icon leapt to the attack again and again, tearing at the remains of it's code.
HugeC
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Thirty is alarmed by Ferret's spasms, but maintains his calm, alert demeanor as the group of strangers shuffles through the streets of Glow City. Keeping his eyes peeled for danger, he whispers into the comms, <You OK in there, Ferret?>

Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

"Pah! God damn this noise! I can't pinpoint the signal without canceling out the interference, and it'll take hours of sampling to work the static out of my calculations. I've got a good idea of where the signal is coming from, I'll just pop the top and take a look inside." With that, Oswald fired at the roof of the shanty, hoping to crack a support beam and cave it in on whatever or whomever was below.
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

Jovan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. As Oswald mentioned, this seemed too much like some sort of feint or distraction, and the man and vehicle splitting off did nothing to assuage his paranoid suspicions of an elaborate trap or diversion to draw their attention away from something important. Try to follow the man. If you can do so while occasionally checking on the status of the group, that would be preferable - but not at the expense of losing that man's trail.

"Not that I wouldn't love to help you with your algebra (though I suppose you could try a different reference frame), but we have other concerns to attend to as well. Our unidentified little tourist is hastily heading south, and what I suspect is the vehicle he was by is driving away in a different direction. I cannot keep track of both of them; you will have to keep a wireless eye on that vehicle."

<@team: I hope you didn't leave your vehicle or anything else important south of your current position.>>
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, Over Thirty's shoulder, Redmond

<@team: I'm fine...grunt...van on autopilot...ouch...follow the ferret...take that you fragger!>>

A data packet named 'ferret' arrives in the commlinks of everyone on the team frequency. On viewing the data, a small animated ratlike creature appears in your AR display with the word 'ferret' floating above it's head. It immediately scurries off in the direction of Ferret's van.

pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Professor can't help but smile at the AR ferret leading them to the van. Ain't technology wonderful.
Acme

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond


Not having any sort of AR goggles on, Acme just went along with the group, but still wondered what the hell was going on with Ferret, waving their new "guests" in front of him so he could pick up the rear. "We're going to get some sort of explanation, right?" he asked out. "Sudden attacks on our hacker doesn't give me the greatest confidence of this going smoothly...."
Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:34 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

"Follow the Vehicle? You mean Ferret's van?! The guy you mentioned was standing by Ferret's van?! Son of a bitch."

<@team: looks like your ride might be compromised.. confirming now, but scan it anyway.. Also, the source of Ferret's attack? I dropped a building on him. It was a small building.>>

Oswald made the blimp puff out a bit of smoke again, to break up its outline in the darkened sky.
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:33 PM, behind Twisters, Redmond

Note to self: We may need to set up some SOPs for future runs.
Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:35 PM, Glow city, Redmond

The bullet from the blimp pings off a chunk of plastiboard, sending it flying. Oz can now see a man laid out, either unconcious or dead. The group in the alley make their way out onto the street, where the van is now waiting for them.
The air spirit dives into glow city in search of the mystery man. I mentally calls out to Jovan, This place is sapping my strength, I can't find the man, he must have gone into these buildings, or maybe that vehicle. I will keep looking
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:35 PM, Glow city, Redmond

As they approach Ferret's van the confusion about where the mystery man is brings up images in Professor's mind of all those cheesy horror stories in which the killer hides in the back seat. Before they enter the van, He checks it out, front and back, for unwanted passengers. Hell, he even submits himself to the astral pollution and perceives in that dimension as well.
HugeC
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:35 PM, Glow city, Redmond

Thirty hefts Ferret's twitching body and scans the surroundings, watching for threats. The dwarf is starting to get heavy, but he doesn't let his face show the strain. Since his hands are full, he asks, "Someone mind getting the door?"

Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:35 PM, Glow city, Redmond

Ferret took one more lunge at the nearly crippled icon, sending it crashing out of existence. Professor's glance over the van turned up no hidden passengers. The exterior seemed as dirty as he remembered. It would be hard to say if the handprints on the side were new or old.
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:35 PM, Glow city, Redmond

As Ferret is loaded into the van and the others take seats, Professor applies his photographic memory, and, as is prudent, his vision-magnification-equipped goggles to record palm and fingerprints from the outside of the van. A few photos, a few seconds, and he jumps in the van himself. It looks like he is the driver again, seeing as Ferret is hors-de-combat at the moment.

"How about we get to somewhere safe and .... clean? Anybody able to check out the vehicle for locator devices? Wouldn't want to lead unknown factors to where we hole up." He fires up the vehicle and starts back the way they came in. "Any news from our astral and space observation teams?"
Saint Sithney
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:36 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

<<@team: The thing from the roof was a ruse. Looks like the guy hammered some sucker to death and then made his agent attack from the dead man's commlink. No indication of other players on the scene. Well, the good news is that I don't think he knows that we know he was messing with the van. Bad news is that we have no idea what he did to it and you could be sitting on top of a bomb for all I know. Just don't mention the guy or searching the van and we can use you as bait. Those RFID tags only have a range of 40 meters or so, which means he'll have to stick close to you. If he's using something bigger, Ferret should have been able to pick it up by now.>>

Feeling resolutely disappointed with the outcome of that little chase, Oswald quickly moved the blimp out of the area again, hoping that he hadn't yet shown his hand.

"Gah! This is the Block Crushers all over again! No attack plan. No exit strategy. Just walk into the lion's jaws and get surprised when you're eaten."

Once again, Oswald resumed the soporific drip keeping Jay sedated.
Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

Ferret's elation at beating the decker turns to disappointment at Oswald's message. He keeps the trace running for a few seconds longer, hoping it will move and prove the rigger wrong. In the meantime he performs a little bit of digital housekeeping. He loads up his 'Dr Defragger' medic program and sets it to repairing his icon while he spoofs a new commlink ID and sends it to the team.

He then checks the van for bugs, hoping that that's all he finds. When he finally opens his eyes to the real, he finds himself squeezed between Thirty and Rusty in the passenger seat of his van. Glancing over his shoulder, he spies the new lad, Acme, sitting in the office chair that is bolted to the floor next to his worktable. Across from him, the red-skinned ork is perched on his scooter's seat with the green-faced kid hunkered down on the van's wheel arch next to her. It's a bit cramped but at least they are alive, on the move, and have some armor plate between them and the Barrens.

"Don't be messing with my stuff back there," he grumbles. You break anything, you pay for it."

Rubbing his temples, he looks up to Thirty, "Thanks for hauling me outta there, big fella."

<<@Team: We need a safe place to talk to Rusty. Ideally somewhere that can't be traced back to any of us. Anyone know a spot or do I need to call my buddies in the Crush?>>
pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

"I'm all for getting the hell out of this background count. I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West after the bucket of water." Professor wonders if anyone here will get the allusion. The story has achieved fairy tale status. Maybe.
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

"Where we are, there's daggers in men's smiles: the nea'er in blood, the nearer bloody," Jovan said with a sigh, shaking his still-aching head slightly at Oswald's news - more at the murderous use of the man as a decoy than at the success of the unidentified attacker's ruse. It was a clever ruse, and Jovan could respect that somewhat; however, it was very unlikely that this opponent would be able to outlast Jovan in this little game. He certainly did not have the patience of an immortal Infected. Unless the man was not what he appeared to be, such as a shedim, bug, or another Infected...

<<@team: And it seems that the sneaky little rat has disappeared in the buildings to the south. A bit of a shame, really. I'd go after him myself, but I am no fool; I have not the necessary resources to support myself in that deathly place. It's more enjoyable to let him walk into a mousetrap after this anyway.>> He subtly licked his fangs.

As an afterthought, he added sarcastically, <<Hail to Glow City, the professor is dead.>>
Acme
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond


Acme shivered. "Yeah, I'm tired of feeling like crap,"he replied, looking around. "I need a shower and a drink after all this... Just mostly the drink." He stretched in the chair a bit, nodding to see Ferret still kicking. "No fair, you get to get a nap in while we're all fearing for our lives." He chuckled softly.
HugeC
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

QUOTE (Notsoevildm @ Nov 14 2010, 08:33 AM) *
Rubbing his temples, [Ferret] looks up to Thirty, "Thanks for hauling me outta there, big fella."

"Null sheen, chummer, though if this gets to be a habit, I'll hafta start buying you salads instead of soyburgers and fries," Thirty says with a grin.

He calls up to Professor in the front seat, "Let's just head to the bus depot for now, we can decide where to go after that on the way."

Then he composes a quick message via DNI on his commlink. <@team: Oswald - We heading to your place or somewhere else?>

pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

Professor smiles at Jovan's response-allusion to Wizard of Oz, and wonders whether Jovan prefer's Baum's Oz, or Maguire's. Probably the latter. Hmmm... both Washington and Seattle have been referred to as the Emerald City. I am a little like Dorothy here. Where are my ruby slippers?

He waits for Ferret or Oswald to tell them about any electronic nasties in the van.

Notsoevildm
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

Ferret opens an audio channel on his commlink so that Jovan and Oswald can listen in. He does run a level three encryption on the signal, his paranoia cranked up a notch after recent events.

"Well, the good news is we ain't primed to blow. The bad news is that we're bugged. I've picked up at least two bugs on the van. One is transmitting video from underneath the front bumper, the other is transmitting our location to anyone listening in. So, I don't think its a good idea to go to Ozzie's place right now. I can probably loop the video on the camera but jigging with the GPS beacon will let them know we're on to them.

So while the bus depot sounds like a good place to lose the trace, I have a different idea. We cross into Crush territory and find somewhere to hide the van. Ideally, somewhere big like an old warehouse and preferably one filled with junk. I spoof the video feed and peel the bugs off the van. Then we shift the van to the other side of the warehouse and wait to see if anyone comes to take a look. In the meantime, Rusty here can fill us in on his buddy and his pals. Anyone see any flaws in that or got a better idea, I'm listening.


pbangarth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

"Sounds like a plan to me. Which way to Crush territory, and what shit will be getting into when we go there?" Professor brings up Yahoo Maps on his commlink.
Acme
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:37 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

"Mmm, not too terribly far from here," Acme replied, pointing at a few places on the map that Professor brought up. "They're here in the Barrens, ah.... Closeish to the tourist strip I think." He frowns hearing the issue with the bugs, but othewise he can't offer much help with the electronics, just content to pal up with his fellow arcane user.
Sephiroth
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:38 PM, Oswald's Rover, near the body mall, Redmond

<<@team: I do see at least one flaw. You are undoubtedly going to require the assistance of Oswald and myself for this little trap. However, with our joining you, there is a possibility that the very act of doing so will alert the target to our presence - one should not assume that those two are the only bugs that were planted in the vehicle. That would lessen the advantage of surprise in the trap.>>

<<@professor: Now then. I believe you were just about to inform me of what we know of our employer at this point.>>
Red-ROM
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 7:38 PM, Ferret's van, Glow City, Redmond

Rusty scratches his fuzzy chin in the cramped space inside the van,"These guys want ol' Long legs worse than you guys. Thing is, he ain't answering the door, so to speak, lately. He hadn't been around for a few days, so I went to check on him. No answer, and it's not the kind of place you walk around uninvited. I'm not even sure he's alive. "
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