@Virtual Scream/Noodle House
September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle

The smell that rose from the slightly-sizzling meat was all wrong. This would never do for 京酱肉丝. With the twitching form of Chunky dropping to the floor, Dante raised his Ruger and, still sitting, squeezed the trigger as the Uzi-wielding ganger came between the crosshairs of the smartgun. The sound of the Thunderbolt firing overpowered all others in the restaurant, easily drowning out the whimpers of Jenny Ho with a crash of thunder. Dante allowed the recoil to help swing the gun's barrel over to the other target, the skinny ganger apparently known as 'Xbox'. Again the trigger was depressed and again the thunder roared. If all went well, that would be the end of this craziness.

@Virtual Scream / Cat, Dubstep, Dante
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]
PAN: Active, SIN: Moll Flanders (Fake SIN Rtg 4), System: 2, Signal: 2, Response: 2, Firewall: 2

Movement blurred across the edge of Cat's vision as she looked defiantly past Chunky. Her self defence training took over and she recalled skills she barely knew she had. She ducked her head and raised her arms to protect herself. A screamed curse swept across her, presaging the flat, wide palm of Chunky's thickset arm. Although she blocked the blow it was vicious enough to ricochet her arm into her head and throw her bodily across the room. Disoriented and hurt she threw her arm out to the side and came down hard on the concrete floor. Fighting for breath Cat tried to calm herself and regain her composure, but she knew precious time was slipping by as her head rang. Blurred vision stabilised as she scrabbled around to face her attacker, only to see Chunky drop, spasming and moaning to the floor before her, smoke curling behind him as he fell. A sound like a cannon cried out twice, twin pulses of noise rattled around her head, adding to the already painful scream in her mind. Cat gasped for air. The smell of cordite and burned flesh filled her lungs. She gagged painfully. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Precious time slipped by as she unravelled.

@Virtual Scream / Cat, Dubstep, Dante
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

Dante's first burst strikes Leader squarely in the chest, knocking him on his back. The heavy pistol kicks high and to the left and as the smartlink targ crosses Xbox's head he squeezes the trigger again.

Unfortunately for Xbox, he is not wearing a helmet. The ganger's head disintegrates, spraying the couple sitting at the table with blood, brains and gore. Either the gunfire or the exploding head finally spur Jenny Ho into action and she drops to all fours and scuttles under the nearest table away from Dante.

With a cough, Leader scrabbles to his feet. He spits blood and coughs out, "You fragging gook! Now all you sub-humans are gonna die."

He brings up the ancient Uzi, holding it out at arms length, its laser sight playing raggedly across the group.

---

Klaxons suddenly flare in the Leader's commlink and Cindy whispers calmly in Dubstep's ear.

<<You are about to be shot at! I suggest you get back to the real and get under the table. Right now! Transfer of second >1rtu@l5cr3@m code segment 47% complete.>>

---

BRAAPP! BRAAAP!

@E:Tribes
September 1, 2072 22:28 Approx 600m from the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup

Spring

Reeling from your summoning you are never the less impressed with the powerful being you have managed to bend to your will…now, who to sic it on? The junker looks the best bet...let's see if you can get them to evacuate their armour!?

Sprogget

As you assess the tactical situation that suddenly seems to be going your way the LeO lets out a viciously accurate burst of fire at the retreating Harley and the bastard jinks almost completely out of the way! Bloody mages and their preternatural senses! You are satisfied to see the spray of very real blood though as the rounds slip under his flapping armour jacket to strike flesh. Hunkering in close to his bike he accelerates away far faster than the Harley should be able to go. Not enough to escape LeO though you think to yourself…

Scrapheap

You dimly hear the wild screech of tyres as Tweak swings the van protestingly back round to the north trying to find a new target to lodge on the front of his bullbars! Charging like a bull elephant you depress the front suspension of the Americar all the way to the deck as you scramble on to the retreating vehicle. A kind of mad desperation lets you keep your balance as the vehicle slews round and you feel a sudden waft of heat from the open roof hatch and suddenly the doors of the vehicle fly open and the two remaining passengers make a frantic bid to exit their still moving vehicle...

Tweak

It's all over! Might as well pull up and save yourself some fuel...you might have rammed the junker just to see but given that Scrapheap is on top and looking mighty angry that probably isn't a good plan!


* To be completed when I have more information on desired actions!

@E:Tribes, Sprogget
September 1, 2072 22:28; Ambushed near the Fre?dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), {s]Stealth(3)[/s], Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

Sprogget can see on tacnet that LeO has a solid target lock on the Mage, but just as the burst is triggered, the Harley dekes right, almost but not quite evading the incoming stream of lead.
@self:That sparker is leading a charmed life!  LeO had him locked!  How did he do that?  At least LeO is chipping pieces off of him.  How did he get moving that fast anyway?  Is he using magic to get more out of that chopper than specs should allow?  Even maximum engine mods should not let it accelerate like that!  At least this kept his attention off of Spring and Scrapheap

@LeO: <<Maintain mage target, continue fire until he goes down, breaks line of sight, or gets to long range.  Best rate of fire.  Best damage potential.>>

@self:Might be a waste of ammo, but NO WAY can either Mechanicals or Fre∑dom let anyone think they can get away with attacking us.  Practically on the doorstep too!  There have to be serious consequences, so they and others will show some respect!  Drek!  This means I'm going to have to do a full report for Spindle.  He is NOT going to like this!  Prospero will probably want some questions answered too.  Maybe I can get Osha to help, to spin this enough so Spindle does not go completely ballistic.

At least LeO's consumables report shows he had a full drum, and he as at full charge too.  Must have been sitting on that roof all day!

@jailbreakers: <<The way that Sparker is bugging out, there is now way we will catch him.  LeO .. the drone .. will be delivering a few more lead gifts before he can get out of range though.>>

@self:What's this on LeO's status report?  He was told to RTB .. this morning actually.  but .. the engines refused to spin up when commanded, and LeO just reset and sat there, defaulting to recharge?
Scanning quickly back through the logs,
@self:And here the second microphone was off line ..  Thermographic was whited out .. gyro .. camera ..

LeO has a gremlin!

Glad that reset this morning got every thing back to par for now!

Coming up to the initial springer trap location, Sprogget pulls up, turning so that the armoured wheel protects him and LeFey from the last know location for the first shooter, staying in the blocked lane so Tweak has plenty of room to go by if he wants. He uses sensors and tacnet, including LeO's input now, to search for more recent signs of that shooter, the ganger that was in the Americar when it got rammed, or any other enemies that are still active.

@self:Are we done yet?

@E:Tribes
Spring
September 1, 2072 22:28 Approx 600m from the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
[Crouching in a doorway]
Renraku Sensei: Hidden, SIN: Steven Brokvich (fake R3)

Seeing the ganger trying to leave, Spring points at the retreating car and tells the spirit Don't let those inside that vehicle get away! Remembering Scrapheap he quickly adds Don't hurt my friend!

Just as the spirit mentally acknowledges his command, its outline vanishes in a black/red flash connecting to the receeding car. Shortly thereafter, the car's doors open and two gangers jump out

Yes! Didn't expect that, did you?!

Ow! Drek!

High on adrenaline as he is, bumping into the wall still hurt his burnt skin.

Better do wihout my victory dance, heh? Still, feels great. Just the skinny kid you send into cramped places when you forgot a drone? Seeing the van pull up, he turns to smile at Tweak...

Tweak
[color="#FF8C00"][Inside the Van]
Novatech Airwave: Hidden, SIN: James Teems (fake R3)

Turning the Van around in a tight power turn that loudly burns off rubber, Tweak takes a moment to assess the situation.

What the? What's tha... not on scanners, steampunkish, Spring you devil, show 'em!

He stops the van near Spring.

Grats on the... Drek! What happened to your face!?

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Copperhead

Ignoring the pervasive taint you peer into the astral and immediately see the skeins of the illusion spell that placed Snag away from his true location. Even more worrying than that is the sight of him batting abstractly at your spirit while he lines up for another shot…and his aura is clearly not that of a mage! Either he’s found the time to initiate and mask his aura or there is another player in this little game, one you’ve not seen yet!

Father Anselm

You clearly hear the rifle shot ring out from inside the building that the troll had run into in such fury. It looked like she was carrying a shotgun so presumably someone (or something) is shooting at her! Over by the bridge you can see that the ghouls are getting braver when all of a sudden you see a burst of fire from a barely visible foe as they lay into the ghouls…looks like reinforcements have arrived down there!

Your spirit also begins the process of whittling down the enemy, sending the beasts crashing to the ground with the might of God’s will.

Gemeaux

You lose sight of Mordred as he accelerates over the bridge, activating the chameleon coating on his armour but an AR overlay projects his approximate location in the corner of your vision…wouldn’t do to inadvertently dispatch him along with your intended targets. The targets are plentiful and clearly getting bolder and they don’t seem to notice as you neatly headshot one of their number, it comes to a sliding halt in the dust with its very grey matter splashed across the deck…

Mordred

Closing quickly with the foe you are glad that you can’t smell them…getting close gives you an all too good a look at their fetid forms. You’ve seen ghouls before but these are some sort of debased feral cousin of that breed and you mentally vow to yourself that you won’t end up like them! Your pistols spit fire and one of their number drop as another’s head explodes nearby…welcome to the party!

@E:Tribes, Scrapheap;
September 1, 2072 22:28 Approx 600m from the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
PAN mode: Hidden | SIN displayed: Eric Jones

Scrapheap whipped his attention away from his handiwork to the armored sedan as it's engine whined closer to him than he expected. Gotta do somethin' about that. He scanned the front of the vehicle, then mentally shrugged and pulled the 990 to his shoulder. The front bead lined up at the junction of two plates over the radiator, and he pulled the trigger. Sparks exploded from the front of the car, and for a half second he thought he'd stopped the overburdened car in it's tracks. His grin slipped as the car began reversing away, a small trail of steam rising from the huge dent in the armor where the shotgun's slug had impacted.

No fuckin' way you shits are gettin' away wif this. He lunged up and away from where he crouched behind the wrecked Americar, long strides carrying him towards the retreating gang transport and a howl of wrath trailing behind him. His boot stomped hard into the ruined bumper, and springs already badly stressed shrieked as his weight drove the bottom of the car's front end into the pavement.

Scrapheap's hand had just clamped onto the rooftop hatch's lip when the car skewed around gracelessly to face the opposite direction. He growled as the muscles is his arm strained to keep him from being flung against the wall of the building next to them, then he was climbing again. As he attained the roof of the sedan a wave of heat rose from the interior along with the choked screams of the occupants. A glance through the hatch as he tried to get the shotgun aimed into the car showed him why.

"Holy SHIT!" He had the strangest feeling that the materializing spirit's attention shifted to him even without all of it's corporeal form, then dismissed him in favor of the two gangers still alive inside. A small, detached part of his mind noted the backseat was awash in gore from the teenaged bo..no, girl he'd shot down from the assault rifle attached to the roof next to him. The scent of fear, death, and swiftly cooking meat rose from the car assaulted his nose, and Scrapheap fought back the urge to retch.

@E:Tribes, Sprogget
September 1, 2072 22:28; Ambushed near the Fre?dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), {s]Stealth(3)[/s], Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

Watching LeO target the fleeing mage, Sprogget figures there's nothing more he can do there.  The remaining crotch rocket seems to be gone, and his attention shifts to Scrapheap trying to tackle and ride the still {sort of} moving Americar.  As the gangers inside suddenly burst out apparently fleeing from something inside, he has a sudden realization.
@self:That missing shooter 1 target!  LeFey was using taser darts!  There was no hit or miss confirmation on tacnet.  She may have hit him, and the charge got him twitching, but that will not last long!

@jailbreakers: <<Slot! Target 1!  Maybe only taser stunned!>>

Hurriedly exiting the DR node, Sprogget shifts from VR to AR mode, reaching for the harness quick release as soon as he regains control of his muscles.  Rolling out of the DR past LeFey, he leaps up heading at a run towards the door where the first shooter was last seen.  He nearly falls on his face in his haste.

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:44; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

The kid glares at Alex with cheap cybereyes, then lets the pistol drop to his side. He opens the door wider and backs away.

Inside there are two other gangers. The first is a young ork girl, tusks barely showing. She can't be more than 14 years old. The other is a skinny human male about 17 years old or so. He has a couple of datajacks on his right temple, cyber eyes with external covers and a worrying twitch.

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Thiss one iss not a mage!

Yeah, yeah, I noticed.

Copperhead twists around the pillar. Her mind struggles with the conflicting images. Her eyes tell her the ghoul is in one place and the smartlink targ turns green when she aims at him. But her awareness puts him about a metre to the left. The targ blinks red as she pulls it off the illusion and onto the ghoul's aura.

One problem at a time.

She squeezes off a single round then ducks back into cover, keeping her senses open in the hope she might spot the mage.

@Virtual Scream / Cat, Dubstep, Dante
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

From the ground Cat can only stare in amazement as the scruffy ork dodges the incoming bullets with apparent ease. Holes appear in the wall behind Dante and Dubstep, the decker still apparently asleep in his chair.

---

The firewall on Xbox's commlink finally gives way to Dubstep's on-the-fly assault. He finds himself in a control room. There is single chair, still warm to the touch as if someone was recently here. There are two screens, one filled with static, the other with a close up of a pair of large, warty breasts. A small window in the latter screen contains an unsent <<Terminate user account>> command.

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Caught between his anger at the ghouls and his uncertainty about the troll, Anselm invoked a prayer for speed like the wings of the avenging angels, moving the invoked response of the Lord onto his focus so that he would be unfettered by holding the protection himself. An instant later he had woven a cloak of protection from evil eyes around him so perfect that he felt the presence of the Most High in this forsaken land. Appearing as a tiny cloud of steam to any onlooker.

Secure in his defenses he reached out to the Lord in his anger, meaning to cast himself into the wind and leap to the aid of the unnamed troll and found that his zeal had perhaps overreached. The minor wind that had been called forth would have sufficed to hold him in place but was nothing like the gust of wrath he had anticipated. Dropping his first prayer he mentally ran through his invocation, alert to any mispronunciation or imperfection that could have caused the Lord to rebuke him in such a manner and found nothing. As if to play with him the gusts departed and he was left clinging to the railing, hoping that his hubris had not gone too far; that he had not asked for too much in his anger.

What have I done, my Lord, that you should see fit to conceal me from my enemies and yet not aid me in aiding another?! Anselm cursed wildly and in that moment realized what had been the cause of his narcissistic pursuit of power. Lord, forgive me, your humble servant! I did not mean to divide my intentions so much. I realize that you alone can decide my fate but please know my intentions were honest! If I have fallen from your sight, please do not hide from me in my hour of need, nor from your presence! I am in need of helping these young souls and know now the full extent of my crimes! Please Lord, give me the patience and the will to do what you would have done. In your greater presence let me aid that party that I may in some part become absolved of my duplicity!

As if in answer a mighty wind came up and, seizing on him, cast him off the billboard and flung him toward the apartment complex roof at great speed. The presence of his Lord filled him and he heard a voice, deep within calling, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

@Flat-Line Express
[July 8th, 2072, 21:45; Fleeing towards home, 126th Pl. NE, Seattle, Redmond Barrens, UCAS]


What on EARTH were you thinking?! Storming out of there, trying to attack her in the middle of her husbands crash pad! SHE DESERVED TO DIE! EVIL! Evil like... you you mean?! Jasper fled blindly through the night, his mist form totally obscured by the heavy acid rain that was pouring down and obliterating the orangey glow emanating from the rest of the city. Fighting himself as much as the wind and fleeing from his nature and the mistake he had just made. The job had been simple and in fact he had completed it without a problem; drop off the commlink and ask for consideration from Zak. He'd done all that without an issue, even distracting the strung out and edgy ganger from his tirade and getting him marginally calmed down. It had all gone south when Zak's wife had attempted to "give him compensation" and he had balked at the offer. In retrospect it was a good thing he had refused her because a split second later she had attacked him and he had just barely been able to dodge out of the way. The revelation that followed him noticing her enlarged canines had saved him and damned him at the same time; it had saved him from being attacked by one of his own and yet damned him as he sought, in a moment of rage to kill her for mistaking him as a helpless human. His own dark crusade against others like him was always an uneasy truce between a search for morality and his own personal needs, both nutritionally and spiritually.

As he flowed down into the shadows around his apartment, checking astral space before he descended and reformed into his physical self to be sure there were no watchers or traces of his approach or flight, he flicked his commlink on and sent a quick blurb to Travis, <<7/8/72: 21:45: @Travinator: Hey Trav sorry for this but you might want to keep your head down. I delivered the list as ordered but a job Edwin offered me went south. Shouldn't be any backlash to you buy figured you'd want the heads up. Ran into some of my own. Will hit you up later this week - Jas>>

@E:PL/Chi Town/Gemeaux, Mordred & Tsubaki
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; East of the river, Clybourn Ave, CZ, Chicago]
SIN: Spencer Lovett, PAN: Hidden

How do you improve on a ghoul? For a given definition of improve, that is. His mouth curls into a snarl. What, had some cruel fate decided they didn't look enough like the undead they had been named for? The adept dodged sideways. No matter. The important thing now was that they were a threat. And, collectively, a target.

<<Watch for the glinting gun. I'm going to hit this mob from the left.>> Mordred puts on a burst of speed and surges forward, slamming his knee below the ribcage of the nearest ghoul. If he kept harrying them, they would be too busy trying to catch him to deal with Gemeaux's bullets. The adept ducks into a roll and darts away.

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]
PAN - Active ; SIN - Maximilien Danton

Gemeaux chuckles over the com channel.

<<[Gemeaux]: Do not worry, my friend. I shall cover you from afar. Just mind the mess.>>

He pulls the trigger on his sniper rifle twice. Two bullets spring from the barrel, whistling as they speed towards their marks.

<<[Gemeaux]: The mess, it will be to your right.>>

@Virtual Scream / Gossamer
[b][September 1, 2072, 16:45, Argent's ‘link node]
PAN: N/A, SIN: None, Response *, Signal *, System (5), Firewall (4), (Analyze, Scan, Decrypt, Exploit [5, inherent], Stealth [6, inherent], Armour, Browse, Encrypt, Medic [6, ergo, optzd])

Gossamer regarded her new body as Cutter brought it down to them. The party dress seemed incongruous next to the street clad runners and the high tech blinking pod that housed her original form (she could already feel herself distancing herself mentally from her old body and preparing to live again as another). Gisele would have a pair of jeans and t-shirt that would be more appropriate and Gossamer was sure that Argent’s daughter wouldn’t have a problem parting with them for the chance at a new playmate! Otherwise the living doll was a pretty little girl that would go unnoticed anywhere downtown or in one of the better neighbourhoods in Seattle, and Gossamer had no intention of straying outside those areas just at the moment.

Detaching herself from Argent’s node she slipped inside the body and merged her consciousness with that of the drone. It would take time to assimilate the node as her true home and she could already feel that it was a pale comparison of her original but that could be worked on, indeed, would have to be worked on for her to feel truly at ease. Perhaps one more thing that Slater could assist her with.

<<@Slater [Gossamer]: So, we have some useful information of sorts. Do you want to investigate CSS and MMO further? I can remunerate you for your time unless curiosity is a powerful enough motivation? My power in the matrix is directly related to the hard/firmware resources I can draw on and unfortunately this new body is not yet equipped for intensive operations but Argent may well be able to acquire us a clean ‘link that I can operate from. I would suggest we don’t try any hacking from here though. Assuming CSS has a physical location in Seattle we may wish to find a crowded locale nearby… >>

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:44; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

Alex sneaks a peek past the veil as he moves into the room, holding the door open. He hears a faint whirr as Charlie creeps in behind him.

Deadeyes appears mostly healthy, about as good as can be expected for a barren rat. There is an angry line around his empty eye sockets, likely from irritated or healing tissue. Apart from the eyes, he does not appear to have any other cyberware. His mood is alert and nervous, with just a hint of concern for Ork Girl.

"We don wan no trubbel" mutters Deadeyes. "Wass da deal?"

Ork Girl seems to have no cyberware and initially seems to be perfectly mundane. But then Alex spots a hint of talent. It is undeveloped and he cannot tell it's exact nature. She too is nervous, glancing towards Deadeyes and taking her lead from him.

Twitchy is another story. His aura is sickly and shows multiple blank spots around his head as well as faint lines throughout his body from cyberware enhancements. Alex guesses that both he and Deadeyes are actually under the legal age for implants. As he ponders that thought, anger suddenly flushes through Twitchy's aura and Alex can see something, a spur, sprout from the back of the kid's right hand.

"Da frag is dat?" curses Twitchy, pointing at Charlie as the drone creeps around the door and the PI.

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:45; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

For a second there was a disorienting blur as Alex opened himself more to the underlying patterns of Creation, then he saw with better understanding. Okay, okay...huh, hope there's a shaman around here to guide her or something. And...damn. Wires. Better than drugs, I guess, but that's gonna kill him sooner rather than..fuck. Keep him calm, get out quickest.

For a heartbeat there was a sense of....something more, something just at the edges of reality that he couldn't quite bring focus to, then it was gone and the world greyed out slightly as he closed his perception back to the familiar, everyday patterns. Keeping his face calm and his hands easily visible, Alex looked down at what Twitchy was pointing at with his blade.

"That? That's a tool, just like what you got amping you and pokin' out your arm, just like what your friend here's got in his hand." The detective indicated the pistol in Deadeyes' hand with a slight nod of his head. "I don't have the luxury of a crew like you three've got, so I keep him around to discourage people fucking with me when I'm out and about, doing my business. You've all been around long enough to know what happens to people around here without the right...tools, yeah?"

Alex cocked his head slightly. "So how about we get this done, before the heat shows up and we're all up shit creek?"

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Copperhead

Bloody hell! the combination of bad conditions is going to draw this particular fight out long after you run out of ammo! Something needs to be done to shift the balance. From your position in cover you can barely make out Snag’s astral form at the edge of the atrium as he lines up for another shot down at you…perhaps he will run out of ammo first? Firing back your shot whistles off somewhere to his left and he barely flinches, he clearly knows he has the advantage here.

Gemeaux

With calm efficiency you move from ghoul to ghoul, lining their abhorrent forms up in your sights, firing and changing target almost before you see your handiwork. One shot, one kill, that is what you’ve honed your skills for. Of course you should probably keep changing location too but it doesn’t look like these poor deformed beasts are going to be firing back at you! It’s getting tighter now though as they close on the runners and their techno charges…time for a bit more care!

Mordred

You glide like a phantom through the ghouls but it is a little bit disturbing to have their blind eyes follow you with unerring accuracy. You strike and dodge back, working your way around to draw them away from the vulnerable technos cowering behind their protective runners. From the taller of the two runners, mentally dubbing him beetle for his black clad plated armour you hear a resigned “I’m out” before he too launches himself from behind the rubble barrier to engage the ghouls at point blank. The other one, dressed in more prosaic street armour dispatches another ghoul before his assault rifle also runs dry. Snatching at a side arm he continues the fight…

Anselm

As you hover over the apartment complex you can see that it is a hollow block around a central atrium. The glazing in the atrium is patchy and provided you are careful not to snag any ragged edges should give you an easy enough route inside. As you prepare yourself you feel the last gasp from your spirit as it overexerts itself in the Lord’s name…at least it has incapacitated several of the heathen ghouls before it departs…

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

Noticing the uzi held in the two outstretched hands of the ganger gave Dante all the clues he needed to deftly slide his body out of harms way. Sure enough, as the trigger was pulled and the bullets flew, the ancient gun kicked up and to the left. A true shooter would've known his stance was all wrong, would've known that arms outstretched like that gave no strength, no support. This guy would do well to read what the I Ching said on the matter of balance in body and mind.

Not that he would live that long. Dante's movement flowed seamlessly into an upright stance that was proper for what was about to happen, which was two short, controlled bursts of EX-EX aimed for center of mass on Leader. Arms held tucked in to his sides to provide the strong frame, the triangle that all good shooters know, Dante squeezed the trigger twice.

@E:Tribes
September 1, 2072 22:28; Ambushed near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup

You watch as the Harley races off with Sprogget’s rotadrone in hot pursuit. Flashes of fire light up the night as it spits lead at the fleeing mage. Despite taking numerous small hits the bastard keeps on going and then finally seems to decide that being on the open road and trying to outrun a bullet is a really stupid idea and he finally drives full tilt at a decayed hab block about fifty meters or so away and crashes through the glazed door already hanging off its hinges…now, do you go after him?

The first attacker seems to have made himself scarce too (at least Sprogget isn’t met by a hail of fire) which just leaves you with the two gangers scrambling to get away from the irate fire spirit inside the junker…that and several messy corpses, well, one of them is twitching and may still have a slim hold on life…

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]
SIN: Spencer Lovett, PAN: Hidden

They still had some fight in them, yet, he noted. The thoughts were soon lost in the chaos around him (to say nothing of the fact that he was actively contributing to it). Something in the back of Mordred's head told the adept he should be feeling the signs of overexertion, but the rest of him was focused on the position and number of remaining enemies. He fought on, grimly, trying to work his way to their potential allies. The adept lunges at the ribcage of the nearest ghoul, striking as if his fingers ended in sharp points. Barely waiting to confirm the kill, he fires wildly at the milling horde.

@E:Tribes, Sprogget
September 1, 2072 22:28; Ambushed near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), {s]Stealth(3)[/s], Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

Knife in hand as he reaches the doorway, expecting either an armed or twitching ganger, Sprogget finds ... nothing.
@self:Looks like LeFey missed, but scared him off, or he recovered and decided to bugout.

After a careful look around, he steps back outside to see what else needs to be done, prudently moving along the wall away from the doorway.  Seeing on tacnet that the mage has managed to get out of LeO’s line of fire, inside another building, Sprogget calls him off.
@LeO: <<Go to overwatch, high threat mode.>>

Seeing from Tweak's feed the condition that Spring is in, and the entity harassing the 2 gangers that so suddenly left the armoured junker, he puts 2 and 2 together.
@self:So that is what Spring was doing in the doorway!  If we are going to do this again, we should get some biomonitors.  That would show personal damage where the existing sensors only tend to notice incoming fire.

@jailbreakers: <<I think we should finish up here quickly, and>>
with another look at the fire spirit,
<<hotfoot out of here.  That mage is still active, and off the scope.  If the local scavengers don’t pick it clean, a better prepared Mechanicals team can collect the salvage later.>>
@self:Not that anything except that AK and pintle mount look to be worth more than scrap.  It would only take a couple of minutes to remove that AK and take it with us.  Should we take the time, while in hostile surroundings? {regretfully} Probably not.

@self:It’s been awhile since Prospero declared that matrix emergency about the virus.  I wonder if he has that settled yet?  Time to take a chance and find out.
Heading briskly back toward the monocycle, Sprogget mentally adjusts his personal connections options, and routing through Tweak’s customized Airwave for the extra signal range, he places a standard commcall to the Mechanicals 'complex security' office.
@self:This will find out quick if we are still offline.  This commcode is always routed to someone on call, even if no one is 'in the office'.  I don't have a matching number for Fre∑dom, but I can try calling Jazz next, assuming she is accepting calls from 'Paul'.  In case Prospero lifted the blackout, but the tribe has not gotten the word yet.  Or maybe Tweak has a security commcode?

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

While adding another paricularly explicit troll porn stream to Leader's AR display, Dubstep notices another device subscribed to Xbox's link. A quick analysis reveals it to be a wireless signal sniffer, set to detect the pings being sent out by devices infected with >1rtu@l5cr3@m.

---

Injured and distracted by a closeup of a giant troll penis, Leader makes only the feeblest of attempts to avoid Dante's concentrated fire. The first burst punches through already weakened armor plates, exploding into his chest. The second hits the same spot, pulping Leader's heart with hot shrapnel.

With little more than a gurgle, Leader falls back to the floor. There is a second of silence, broken only by the twitching of Chunky at Dante's feet, then the blood-spattered Chinese woman begins to scream.

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

The screaming begins, but Dante doesn't particularly take notice. After all, he's Chinese, and he comes from a country where noone has personal space or privacy and people speak 50 decibels higher than necessary all the time. With a quick flip of his left foot, he sends Chunky's pistol skittering across the floor as he re-holsters his own pistol. The motion leads into the delivery of a rapid kick or two to the crotchal area of the still-twitching ganger.

<<@XiaoHong [Dante]: Some Jasons just tried to rob your noodle house, and I'm afraid I made a big mess stopping them. You're going to need to dispose of 2 bodies, and you've got a third for questioning if you want. I'd appreciate it if you told me anything you find out from him.

@Virtual Scream/Cipher
[September 2, 2072, 10:01; Ares Seattle General Hospital]

Despite the drugs in his system, Cipher's head is still pounding. With each beat of his heart, his head is filled with pain and images. He ignores the pain and focuses on the images. None of them are long, a few seconds at most. He sees people in meetings, moving through corridors or sitting at desks, He tries to focus on the details but now that he is looking at them closely, he realises just how blurry they actually are.

He turns his attention to some of the other bits of data, which at first seem just to be scrambled noise. He looks for patterns in the noise and slowly but surely, the white noise resolves into more images. These are sharper and after studying many of them he has identified two recurring logos: one is the letters CSS and the other is a simple icon of an elephant.

A simple search of the matrix, identifies the CSS letters as belonging to Cyberdyne Security Systems, while the elephant logo belongs to a Cyberdyne subsidiary called Mammoth Memory Operations. Maybe one of these companies will know what is happening to him.

As he opens his eyes, he realises he is moving. In fact his whole bed is moving. Overhead lights blink past as he is moved down a corridor by two of the strangest looking orderlies he has ever seen. The first is a giant of a troll, almost filling the corridor as he pushes Cipher's bed down the hall. His white coat barely fits over his huge frame and spikes jut from his forehead, poking through the blue hairnet covering his spiky red hair.

A pleasant perfume draws Cipher's attention to the other orderly, a young human girl moving along next to the bed. She is pretty, despite or perhaps because of the many piercings on her face. She has several small hoops in both eyebrows, a stud in one nostril and another under her bright red lips. Nanotat stars blink on both her cheeks.

"E's awake!" grunts the troll.

There is a soft click and Cipher feels something pressed against his throat.

"Not a word, omae. Lotsa peeps die in 'ospitals. Keep yer mouth shut if you dont want to join 'em."

She gives Cipher a friendly smile, while keeping the blade pressed to his throat.

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:45; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

Deadeyes raises his left hand in a 'be cool' gesture, his gun still pointing towards the ground while Ork Girl tries to keep he lower lip from trembling.

Twitchy twitches. He seems to be contemplating whether or not he can make the distance to Alex before the PI can order the drone to attack. Then Charlie pipes up in a voice almost too deep for his audio circuits.

"Retract the spur and stand down. You have five seconds to comply. Four..."

All the gangers take a step back as the small drone growls out the command and cocks it's twin barrels. Deadeyes steps protectively in front of Ork Girl, who tucks herself nervously in behind him. Alex knows even that wouldn't save her if Charlie was to open up with the APDS.

Twitchy eyes go wide as he realises the drone is running under its own pilot. His spur snicks back into his arm and he backs off with a sneer.

Deadeyes finds his voice. "Hey, no need to go all drone wars on us, omae. Look we got da gear."

He points to a pile of equipment lying on a battered table. There are a few links, including one Alex recognises as his, a couple of trid players and Harvey's ancient terminal.

"Hunnerd a link, two fer da trids and da terminal. Dat's what we agreed wid yer jay. Dat's em...well let's call it a grand."

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Copperhead ducks back into cover.

Fragger's got me pinned down good. I might be tough but even I can't take too many hits like that. My spirit's been disrupted by the fragging invisible mage and it sounds like there is a block war is going on down the street. Not good. I'm just too damn slow.

She reaches into the pouch with her medkit and feels around for the cram autoinjector.

Frag. I promised Cutter, Snake and myself that I wasn't going to use this crap. But the background count is messing with my fragging foci.

As she brings the disposable injector up to her neck, she gives a suppresed yelp. Snake is wrapped around her arm, and boy does she look pissed.

Thiss is not the way. Thiss way liess only madnesss and death.

Copperhead lets the injector fall to the ground with a sigh, crunching it underfoot.

Got a better suggestion?

Snake smiles and flows up her arm. She can feel her mentor wrap tight around her neck and then there is a sharp pain in her backside as Snake bites her own tail. She feels the serpent tighten around her neck as it eats its way along it's tail, but when she clutches at her throat all she can feel is a thin metal choker.

Health iss more the domain of Bear, but I have my own ressourcess. Fill thiss token with your power child and usse my other gift wissely.

Copperhead can feel Snake's presence in her head, like tiny snakes wriggling through her brain, as the serpent fills her mind with new knowledge. It feels like her brain is on fire.

Ow, ow, ow! Okay, next time she wants to lecture me, let her. This is not the way to learn.

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:45; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

Alex looked over the assorted electronics on the table, then back to Deadeyes. Can't be too eager, that'll set off his alarms for sure. He's worried about her, plus he's got to keep Twitchy from thinking he's weak and should be taken down. The gun hasn't moved since I came in. Not too hard, give him some breathing room. He saves a little face, no one goes down. The sense of something more pushed against his senses again insistently, like he stood on a precipice and knew that with a single step he could fly.

Alex hardened his expression slightly. "There wasn't an expectation of a dead pig to cover tracks on, either. Our employer would normally give you each ¥10 worth of lead for that kind of screw-up, but I don't like killing people that look like they can learn. I think that's the case, so.." His expression relaxed, and he fished his commlink and a blank credstick he kept in this pocket for just this kind of situation. "..how about this deal: ¥750, and you guys pull a fade back into the Barrens, lay low for a week or so. Do yourselves a favor, don't talk about this to anyone. Never know who's an in for the heat, yeah?" He bounced the credstick lightly in his palm. "We got a deal?"

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:19, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

Chunky makes a strange gurgling noise then passes out. A few girls appear on the upstairs balcony, in various states of undress. They call down nervously in Chinese.

"What's happening?...Is he dead?...Look at all the blood...Is it safe?..."

Dante moves quickly around the gangers, patting them down and scooping up their weapons. Chunky's Ares Predator is an original model, practically a museum piece, except for its crappy condition. The smartlink doesn't work and the grip is held together with gecko tape. He wears a new commlink, an Ares knock-off, cheap and disposable. Leader's Uzi is almost as old, but seems to have been slightly better maintained. The laser sight even works. His commlink is identical to Chunky's. Finally, Xbox has an equally old Colt America. Wiping off the blood and brains, Dante is surprised to find that the bulky external smartlink not only actually works but that it is also reporting that the pistol is loaded with a full clip of armor piercing rounds.

<<@Dante[XiaoHong]: <Chinese>I think I can overlook the mess if you stopped them from robbing one of the premises under my protection. Assuming, of course, that you did not make too big a mess. Please remain there with the surviving Jason until my men arrive to secure him and the premises.>>

---

Still apparently snoozing at the table, Dubstep scans for the location of Xbox's signal sniffer. The location matches his commlink's so the device must be on or close to his body. It is registering three pings, which then drops to two as Cindy reports the transfer of the final piece of the virus to his commlink. He feels like he is swimming in treacle as the virus, even dormant, eats up a significant chunk of his link's system resources.

---

Scrabbling to her feet, Cat takes deep breaths to calm her ragged nerves, putting her game face back on. She spots Jenny Ho peering nervously from behind a nearby table.

@E:Tribes
September 1, 2072 22:28; Ambushed near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
SIN: Iwakura Lain, PAN: Passive

Morgan peeks her head out from her hiding place. <<Is it over?>> The Drakes had given up, hadn't they? To pursue them at this point felt...wrong. She looked at Sprogget, waiting for an answer from the others. Hopefully, it won't be "kill them to the last man".

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:20, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]
PAN: Active, SIN: Moll Flanders (Fake SIN Rtg 4), System: 2, Signal: 2, Response: 2, Firewall: 2

Brushing dust from her knees while simultaneously massaging a numb arm, Cat regains her composure and begins to take in her dramatically changed surroundings. Dante is picking over the clearly very dead gangers. Chunky smells like burning but appears to still be breathing. Panicked voiced from above, stricken looks from the dinners downstairs, and the waitress' nervous face peering from behind the shelter of a table spur Cat into action. She straightens her clothes and stands tall, her shoulders back and begins speaking in a passable Chinese.

"You are safe. Everything is OK."

"These people", gesturing to the bodies on the floor "tried to come in to your restaurant and hurt you. They meant to take what was yours. They meant to kill you if they could."

Nodding towards Dante and Dubstep as she walks towards the waitress, she continues. "My friends and I have stopped them from doing this. You are safe now. Everything is OK thanks to Dante's bravery and Dubstep's quick thinking."

Cat helps the waitress up from behind the table. "We will stay with you until others can arrive to protect you. You are safe with us, we are your friends."

@E:Tribes, Sprogget
September 1, 2072 22:28; Near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), Stealth(3), Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

Walking back to the monocycle while waiting to see if the commcall goes through, Sprogget looks at LeFey and shrugs.
@jailbreakers: <<Seem to done for now.  Anyone that attacks the tribes need to be taught a lasting leason, so they do not think about trying it again for a long time.  Need to also protect the tribe, and chasing a mage through a maze of buildings is likely to cost more than it’s worth right now.  When they get the reports, Spindle and Prospero can decide if more lessons are needed for them to get the point.>>

@jailbreakers: <<Hey Scrapheap, do you think you can get that heap of junk back to the complex under it’s own steam?  Or at least to the Mall?  I'd hate to have to leave it for them to use another time.>>

@self:If needed, maybe I can cobble something enough to keep it going that far.

@jailbreakers: <<Spring, I've got a medkit here, but if you can wait a bit, Doc should be at the complex, or maybe back at the Mall by now.  Or the patching will be better if done back at the shop, once we get off of the street.>>

[September 1, 2072 6:00; Our Lady of the Sky Commune]

Buck-buck the rooster squawked out a greeting to Lilly-of-the-Valley as she approached with the feed bucket. The human mage was on poultry feeding duty and Buck-buck was used to the sound of her steps. He flopped off his lawn-chair perch, clucking and strutting in a circle around Lilly's feet. Several tourists of the wake-and-bake variety coughed, surrounded by plumes of greenish smoke. They were happy to loiter about the kitchens and wait for an opportunity to sample organic this or that and see 'real' nature folk commune as one.

Fracking tourists, Lilly thought as she threw feed to ground. Plump chickens and geese crowded around, clucking and honking up more than enough noise to cover up the mage's disdain-filled mutters. Most commune-raised metahumans felt superior to 'nature-spurning' citizens who could only gawk at a real tomato. Lilly hated the tourists because they reminded her of her of her own weakness. She would have given plenty be able to slip through the rest of the city like minnow in a familiar creek. Enjoy extruded soy-based whatevers like the rest of Seattle. But, no. Her body was used to the coddling of an organic-only childhood and violently rejected almost anything that came, preserved, out of a machine. Lilly would never join the ranks of street-toughened 'sams taking shots of hard liquor or corporate mages in their crisp suits. She had to pander to the tourists, dressed up like a wannabe AmerInd with seed-bead embroidered moccasins and a head covered in clover chains. Else it would ruin their precious image of a true commune dweller.

The wake-and-bakers started to chant then, a neo-aborigonal warble complete with make-shift drums. Lilly-of-the-Valley dumped out the rest of the feed to delighted clucks, and returned to her suite. It was probably the only place hangers-on weren't laying about. The whole commune was filled with all metatypes who 'just happened to be in the neighborhood' and ended up crashing there for half of the week. For a soft-spoken killjoy like Lilly, it was pure hell. She kicked off the moccasins at her door and walked barefoot across the tile.

It took a minute for the lights to warm up, and a swift kick to get the CHN's case to activate it. Lilly checked off her morning chores from her to-do list and put the kettle on for tea. Hopefully she'd have an email with some good news, hopefully a job. Her usual client from SK knew people, a lot of people. Surely he knew someone in need of a SINless magician?

@Virtual Scream / Gossamer
[September 1, 2072, 16:45, Argent's ‘link node]
PAN: N/A, SIN: None, Response *, Signal *, System (5), Firewall (4), (Analyze, Scan, Decrypt, Exploit [5, inherent], Stealth [6, inherent], Armour, Browse, Encrypt, Medic [6, ergo, optzd])
Slater unfolds himself from his lotus position on the floor, stretching his arms, rolling his neck and rubbing some life back into his legs.

"I'm interested, doubly so if there's some cred to be made. I can line you up with some pirate ware or are you talking hardware upgrades? I'm pretty good with a microtronics kit myself but can reach out to a few people if you need an expert. Actually, you should talk to Argent for that. She's the fixer after all!"

He moves close to her new drone body and crouches down to look her directly in the eyes.

"Nice work. But you can't go barrens hopping in that little party dress. Frag, even dressed for the streets, there's places I couldn't take you as a pretty little girl, even a drone one. See if you can find something more 'street' to wear and I'll have a word with the boss-lady and see if she knows anywhere local we can use to do a bit of digging. Failing that you'll have to put up with Cutter and his Crush buddies down in the barrens. Don't worry, Cutter wont let them sell you or use you for parts."

From somewhere behind you, the big ork grunts. "Yeah, I'll spread the word she's under my protection. But who is gonna watch out for your scrawny ass?"

@Virtual Scream: Dubstep/Cat/Dante
[September 3, 2072, 13:20:23, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]
PAN: Hidden, SIN: Jo Datsik (Fake SIN Rtg4), Response 6, Signal 5, System 6, Firewall 6, (Analyze 6, Armor 3-Ergonomic, Attack 4-Ergo, Biofeedback Filter 6, Browse 6-Ergo, Command 6-Ergo, Disarm 3, ECCM 3-Ergo, Edit 6-Ergo, Exploit 6, Scan 6, Spoof 3-Ergo, Stealth 6)

Secondary PAN: Active, SIN: Jo Datsik(Fake SIN Rtg4), Response 3, Signal 4, System 4, Firewall 4, (Agent 3, Analyze 4, Browse 4, Edit 4, Tacsoft 2)

Dubstep pulls himself out of the virtual landscape of xbox's commlink to return to the meatspace of the Hai Fuk Noodle House. Looking around at the bulletholes only inches from where he had slumped down, he audibly swallows, shakes his head and then looks to Dante who appeared to be grabbing gear.

"Looks like these clowns have some connection to the Scream. At least that one," he points to xbox's body, "has some device that can track down devices infected with it. My agent's clearing off your devices now, but that is what drew the Jasons to this place."

"Let's grab that and get out of here. Oh and their commlink's too." Looking to Cat, he adds, "Looks like maybe you won't need to buy a new commlink aferall. From what I could tell as I hacked into it, that one guy had a fairly good one."

@Virtual Scream, Alex Bianchi
September 2, 2072, 12:45; Not quite the Barrens
Renraku Sensei: Hidden | SIN: Jimmy Delfino (Fake ID, Rating 3) (Re 2 - Sig 4 - Fi 2 - Sys 2)

Deadeyes also glances at the pile of electronics then to Ork Girl , who gives a brief nod of her head. He looks over to Twitchy but the wired ganger's attention is fixed on the angry little drone. He considers the deal for a moment, but then either decides against negotiating it up or the basic arithmetic is just too much for him and he gives up on it.

"Fine, we'll take da seven-fifty. Better dan a bullet in da back."

He tucks the pistol away in the back of his pants and holds out his hand in a 'gimme' gesture. He pockets the credstick, then the three of them edge carefully around Alex and the drone, leaving them alone in the room. After a minute or two, Alex hears their car's engine rattle into life and, trailing smoke, it pulls out into the street.

@Virtual Scream / Dante, Dubstep, Cat
[September 2, 2072, 13:20, Hai Fuk Noodle House, Redmond Barrens, Seattle]

"You two have a safe place? Safe vehicle to go to the safe place? I must stay here until the owner's employees arrives."

Dante's collection of looted gear satisfied him somewhat, if only because the feeling of having a loaded gun soothed his jangling nerves. The edge that his wired reflexes imparted gave everything a reddish haze in the periphery of his vision, not the most pleasant sensation. Yet he kept his wires amped up, not sure that everything was settled down once and for all. He handed the non-weapon scavenged gear over to Dubstep for examination. The screaming women, he ignored completely. He was thankful for Cat's soothing, it really did seem to be helping the situation. Nothing worse than a hysterical woman...except maybe a restaurant full of them.

"If you go now, where can we meet again? Any action with this virtual cream could bring danger again, we should carefully choose a place to meet."

@Virtual Scream/Cipher
[September 2, 2072, 10:01; Ares Seattle General Hospital]

This was a new situation, and a much more interesting one. Who were these people and what did they want with him? Whatever they wanted he was going to have to act fast and think faster if he wanted to get out of the hospital in one piece.

Cipher silently nodded at the knife-wielding orderly, lay back down as if to behave, and closed his eyes to perpetuate their ruse. He slipped into VR and with half a thought summoned a sprite and tasked it with pulling up a map of the hospital. It should be able to find out where they are easily enough, and he had more important thing to focus on. The largest part of his attention was concentrating on gaining control of the kidnapper's comms. He breezed through their lax security, threading programs through his mind like idle thoughts. He searched around for information on who they were and what they might want before looking for anything he could disable to cause a distraction.

"Where are they taking me? If I can figure out the exit I can head them off"

He scanned the map and traced their route, then sent the taxi around to the front. If all else failed he'd run them down! Then he set about scanning the medical drones in the corridor for any possible distractions they could cause...

@E:CoP/Johnny Awesome
[August 21th, 2072, 06:15; NeoNet Tower, Oxford]

The sun hitting his face woke Johnny up. There was a gentle breeze too, swirling around his testicles and making him giggle before he realised in his still-drunk half-sleep that he must in fact be naked, and outside. That's when the events of the evening past started coming back to him. He opened his eyes.

Browyn was lying next to him, naked and still asleep. They were on the roof of the tower and a quick look around told him there was no way down for a mundane such as himself. He also didn't seem to have any clothes. He stood up and looked down over the city. It was a magnificent sight as the sunrise bathed the spires. He sat on the edge and dangled his legs over, looking down at the streets below. People would be arriving to work soon. He tried to check the time before realising that he had nothing. He stared at the sun and guessed.

"Five'o'clock" he said assuredly and incorrectly.

He heard a noise and looked down to see Sir Gregory standing on the balcony below. He was holding what looked like Johnny's pants before shaking his head and sending them away with the maid. It was going to be another eventful day...

@E:Tribes
September 1, 2072 22:28; Near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup

LeFey

So this is what barrens life is like? Glorified, or perhaps that should be gorified trid footage hasn’t really prepared you for this. At least the tribes represent a stable existence in this perilous place, they’ve risen above hand to mouth or gang existence. It would seem that even they are not immune to the predators that stalk these parts, but those predators would be even more wary after the drubbing your compatriots (mostly just teenagers themselves) just dished out…

Scrapheap

The car grinds to a halt beside one of the terrified former occupants allowing you to drop down on some of their more squishy areas in a suitable venting of your rage. Turning to track the other one you see his ratty dreds suddenly go up in flame as the wrathful spirit envelops him in a fierce embrace…even you might blanch a bit at the sudden smell of roasting meat…

Spring & Tweak

Side by side you survey the carnage you just dealt out in the last few seconds…hard to believe less than a minute has gone by since that stinger shot across the road…

Sprogget

As your adrenalin levels start to return to normal you get a spike again as your commcall goes through to the Mechanicals, good, and then you get a metaphorical not now as the system routes you to a messaging node, not good!…that would only normally happen if the system was overloaded by comms because of a major event, like an attack!

Jazz’s response doesn’t leave you feeling much better…!

<<@Sprogget/Paul [Jazz]: What?! We’re a bit busy around here at the moment, can it wait?... >>

@E:CoP/Johnny Awesome
[August 21th, 2072, 06:15; NeoNet Tower, Oxford]

You turn back to Browyn to find her standing beside you, she made absolutely no sound! A moment later and she is fully clothed in business chic, without even twitching a muscle. She smiles wryly at the expression that must have flitted across your features before you carefully school them back to unruffled…

"You’ll get cold! Are you hungry?" she turns away and you realise that suddenly you are clothed too…the wind gently caressing you gives the lie to the illusion but at least you won’t shock any of the tower’s other inhabitants…she has chosen well for you, the business suit is just the colour and cut you might have picked for a fine morning such as this.

"Here, it looks like your people are mildly concerned about you…" and she hands you back your ‘link from wherever it got flung last night. You wince slightly as you take it, Bronwyn clearly had claws in her current appealing form as well as the more reptilian one.

Gesturing you across to a shadowed part of the roof you finally see the carefully concealed door that will take you back to the disappointing normality of the day. At least you companion seems intent on keeping you with her for now…

Briefly relaying your messages to an AR window you see Mags has provided an analysis of the key trends of conversation from last night…he must have worked hard to achieve all that already…it would seem the technomancers in Geneva had been a hot topic, alongside DeLeMar’s rants about the need for greater security…the matrix was useful assuredly but it was unlike your peers to get stirred up about it, that tended to be the province of the tycoons…

@Virtual Scream / Gossamer
[September 1, 2072, 16:45, Argent's ‘link node]
PAN: N/A, SIN: None, Response *, Signal *, System (5), Firewall (4), (Analyze, Scan, Decrypt, Exploit [5, inherent], Stealth [6, inherent], Armour, Browse, Encrypt, Medic [6, ergo, optzd])

"I'm interested, doubly so if there's some cred to be made. I can line you up with some pirate ware or are you talking hardware upgrades? I'm pretty good with a microtronics kit myself but can reach out to a few people if you need an expert. Actually, you should talk to Argent for that. She's the fixer after all!"

"I was thinking of hard and firmware updates rather than software. My old chassis had a NeoNet Spark response chip…assuming the virus has left it intact that would be a significant upgrade for this body and mean I can work at a more useable speed on the matrix and the flesh. Argent’s daughter will have some appropriate clothing I can borrow. Cutter’s place would be fine provided the links out are sufficient for our needs, it would be good to have eyes on the street watching for someone running interference."

She reached for a compartment at the side of her pod and withdrew a massive pistol, making a couple of mental adjustments so that it recognised this new body and command node as the authorised firer.

"A little strangely balanced with this undersized body but it will be a surprise for anyone who does want to use me for parts! Right, we have an avenue of investigation. I want to find out more about this Scream and what the ramifications are for the grid and for those of us who live there!"

@E:Tribes, Sprogget
September 1, 2072 22:28; Near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), Stealth(3), Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

With the Mechanicals system automated response, then Jazz’s brusqueness, Sprogget can feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising, as he once again tries to perceive everything around him locally, while also wanting to pushing himself through that link to find out what is going on.

@self:Keep it short.  Provide only information she may need NOW.
@Jazz[Paul]: <<Summary: Freedom plus Mechanicals party ambushed South Meridian between 27 and 28 Avenue SE.  Attacking Spined Drakes routed.  Leader mage and one other escaped.  Spring injured but functional.  Alpha Apex and Glyph separated from party earlier, unknown status.  Can it wait?  Should we continue to Mall?  Query: Status Mechanicals complex?>>
@self:NEED to get home, but Mall closer, and on the direct path.

Speeding up his return to the Monocycle, Sprogget quickly conferences the commcall to Jazz into the team local communications, adding an obvious indicator so the others know that Jazz is included in the feed.
@jailbreakers [Sprogget]: <<Heads up people!  There may be more trouble at home and the mall.  Trying to get more information now.  Comms back up locally.>>

@self:Great introduction we are giving LeFey to Puyallup!

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]
PAN - Active ; SIN - Maximilien Danton

Gemeaux takes a quick break from dispatching ghouls to check his surroundings. It would be unacceptably amateurish of him to get caught unaware. Plus, he had no desire to have to call for help and jeopardize the job.

<<[Gemeaux]: Mordred, let me know if you need me to follow you into the building.>>

He sends the message to Mordred as he takes another shot at an unsuspecting ghoul.

@E:Tribes, Crow
September 1, 2072 22:28; Puyallup
PAN Hidden; SIN: Jim Crow (R4)

Basic survival one-oh-one, avoid heavily populated areas pending further recon and threat assessment,
"Are you certain Jack ? they don't seem threatening enough to take the Scenic Route we need to make haste to the bar" Crow mutters quietly to the shadow lost amongst shadows above him.
He can't see the figure, but as always he feels it's presence, it's overwhelming sense of arrogant self preservation and decided not to press the matter further
"Fine, but you'll go as hungry as I !" he whispers this to himself but knows that the JackDaw misses nothing.
Across the street in front of them, a family begin a meal they just traded their earthly posessions for, it wouldn't even rate a value on a credstick the amount they got in return, but food is life.

Crawling backwards down the rubble of a long abandonned building Crow takes pains to not make any further sound, small puffs of dust from ancient rotten plas-boards eddy around him and leave white remnants on the matt black biker leathers in streaks reminiscent of warpaint. He stands and brushes himself down, making a mental note to barter for some leather wax at the next opportunity, the creases in the suit in desperate need of some maintenance.

The shadow of Jack flits from the building and across the street, silently in the direction of the amber glow on the horizon that indicates their destination.
Post recon and threat assessment, utilise the cover of populated areas, be extra vigilant for insurgent forces the mental checklist continues like this for every scenario Crow faces ... recon, assess, infiltrate, extract ...

For the past year it has been his mantra as he tries to survive the daily threats that the barrens offers, but Going Solo can only get you so far.
Now that the rations have gone, the vehicle is long abandonned, most of the weaponry exhausted or stolen or bartered he needs to find a new place to build his estate back up before moving on again.

"How far Jack ?" he asks almost silently. speaking the words has never been necessary but he finds comfort in at least moving his lips,
if only for his own sanity and reassurance that he can still speak the words he hardly ever gets to use. "Real funny featherbrain, Yeah, I want it As the Crow Flies ... moron!"
How'd I get lumbered with an Avian Comedian? ... Yeah I know you can hear me here too, get out of my head and scout it up! or I'm selling you to the Circus

Crow drops into a low crouch and dashes to the next piece of cover across the road.
Huddled forms round burning barrels and shambling drunk or high vagrants, none of them would barely notice him anyway but the muscle reflex takes over when the paranoia kicks in.
Jack gives a high pitched, almost metallic chyak-chyak of alarm that only he can hear and Crow immediately halts in the shadow of a burnt out doorway facing west.
"Contact? .. I need more of a Sit-Rep than that ya' bug-munchin, feathered rat! .. what's goin' on?"

Across the street and into the distance the sounds and flashes of a firefight erupt in the night sky, while not entirely unusual it puts Crow in a sour and pensive mood.
"Perfect, just Drekkin' perfect ..and tonight was going so well so far .. well, they must have summat' worth wastin' bullets for ... about half a click ?.. okay my shadow, lead the way!"

pushing away from the doorframe with his shoulder he unslings the Ares Alpha from it's casual position into his hands and checks the ammo counter
<< TAC=DATA AVAILABLE - @USER : PRIMARY CLIP STAUS = FULL, SECONDARY CLIP : NOT AVAILABLE - PLEASE VISIT ARES.NET/SHOP - MODE: BURST >>
"Drek!" He says outloud before reprimanding himself, only one and a half magazines of the good stuff and some grenades that he doesn't want to waste.
Once that's gone he has to consider appearing on the grid again to contact his old ex-Army buddy or a Ganger for replacements, but that needs cold hard currency, something that is in short supply lately.

Running out across the now open ground covered in brush and rubble he is careful about his footing, a nasty fall and no meds could well mean death out here, there's a severe lack of good samaritans and an over abundance of folk that'd strip you of everything while you cough up your last breath. so he slows the pace and looks up to the fast approaching flickering lights and ricochets as they shoot into the darkness.

@E:CoP/Johnny Awesome
[August 21th, 2072, 06:18; NeoNet Tower, Oxford]

"How long do these clothes last?" Johnny asked jokily. "Don't get me wrong, they're incredibly comfortable. I just wondered if they are likely to drop out of existence at a time that may get me arrested."

He scanned the messages on his 'link and brushed them away to deal with later. "I'm not starving, but I could eat. What d'you have in mind?"

After a second thought he accesses his 'link again. It wasn't right to make no contact. <<@ALLSTAFF: I'm fine. We're staying in Oxford for the day. You're all off-the-clock until I say. Go and enjoy the city>>. He knew Mag would ignore this, it was a bodyguard's nature, but he'd no doubt be waiting for him as soon as he stepped downstairs anyway.

@Virtual Scream / E:Tribes, Sprogget (and anyone else with an AR interface)
September 1, 2072 22:28; Near the Fre∑dom Mall, Puyallup
Bionode: Response 4(5), Signal 2, System 4, Firewall 3; Hidden; Analyze(3), Command(1), Edit(1), Scan(1), Sniffer(3), Spoof(1), Stealth(3), Shield(1), Tacsoft(2), Simrig(1)
CMT Clip: Response 1, Signal 3, System 1, Firewall 1; Hidden; SIN: Paul Brickhill (R3)

From the corner of his eye, Sprogget spots a glint of metal from high up on a burned out appartment block. As he looks up he can make out a monocycle driving down the outside wall of the block. A high pitched wailing, like someone having their skin flayed off, emanates from the bike.

As it closes, he feels his connection with the returning hunter sprite. But something is clearly off.

For a start, he does not remember it having a skull for headlights. As it pulls up next to him, red spots of oil...no blood dripping from the engine and twin exhausts, he realises that the sprite has not just returned with information about the >1rtu@l5cr3@m virus, but has been infected by it too. Several pieces of it, by the looks of things. In addition to the skull and dripping blood, the sprite cycle's handlebars are made from long bones, perhaps arm bones. And the driver's seat appears to be human skin, crudely stiched together. All in all, the whole thing looks like something out of a sci-fi/horror trid.

@E:PL/Chi Town
[July 9th, 2072, 00:26; Ghoul central, CZ, Chicago]

Copperhead

With the new found knowledge welling in your mind you spring at the wall, careful to stick behind a buttress to prevent Snag from simply shooting you in the head, the mana coursing through you allowing you a purchase on the impossible wall as you shimmy up the inside of the atrium…

Anselm

From your vantage point above the atrium you dimly see the flashes of shots being exchanged…if you are going to intervene the time is now! Although the passing of your spirit nags at the back of your mind, surely it should have withstood more of the Lord’s might before passing back to the Lord’s domain…

Mordred

You see one of the runners disappear under a wave of ghouls and wince inwardly…even on the off chance that he survives the chance of him contracting the virus just jumped immeasurably! As one of the beasts raises its head your burst cleanly removes the left side of its skull and it flops limply aside…one more down. The one in the beetle armour seems to be holding his own despite his apparent lack of ammo, moving like a trained martial artist much like yourself rather than his brawler companion…ammo will also shortly become a concern for you, or at least the time you need to reload. The bastards are tracking you now and only your mixture of defence and attack are keeping them at bay. If more of them come for you you will need the chance to put some solid holes in some of them to even the odds.

Gemeaux

Things are looking tense down there and you are grateful for the detachment that your removed position affords. A quick glance around you reveals nothing creeping up on you despite the prickles down the back of your neck. Turning back to the fight you have to be extremely careful with your next shot but as a ghoul breaks for the children you place a round in its centre mass with calm efficiency.