brock looks to the crowd after agrees with ollis low tone after looking at the mass of what used to be a ganger. "agreed" putting his hammer back to his side brock bends over to pick up the roomsweeper and starts to distance himself from brock and siren. great first impression of me is going to be a psycho
brock thinks to himself as he starts to head in a opposite direction with Ollie.

As Papa and Siren move away from the scene, Papa pulls up his edit program, modifies Brock's features and updates his P2.0 with the gory scene and first hand footage from the TeamNet video. I might as well boost my rating. He also begins looking for some place for him and Siren to clean up.

"Alright. Guess we will continue this meeting at another time and in a less volatile environment."

Still looking around for potential hostilities, Siren is happy to move away from the spotlight for once.

"I guess when things have calmed down a bit, we can continue with the shopping tour. I believe, there were a few more things on your list."

Hahn Free Market

The distress seems to be very localized as Papa and Siren move away. A few dozen meters away and the merchants are hawking wares, passing gossip about a psycho trog coming off a drug binge and the ganger who tried to cut his teeth to have them knocked to the mud.

Near the cooling corpse, several men are moving down the path with chains and their arms outspread. The stiff line of metal shoves people out of the way and most move quickly to be somewhere else. As Brock puts the dripping hammer over his shoulder and takes the Streetsweeper, the Enforcers arrive.

A wild eyed human seems to be leading them, her clothing embroidered and marked with a smattering of random occult symbols. She holds a curved knife in one hand.

"Tisk tisk chap, that one was a slot-head, but we can't have killing. It's bad for business. You've got two options, pay your fine and leave or pay your fine and buy something from these folks here for their troubles." She motions with her knife at the merchants immediately surrounding Brock and Olethros.

"And you scar-face, I lost a solid handful of tablets on account of you throwing that match. Don't give me any of that nonsense about trauma--I know when a soul has taken thirty silver to fall down. Since you're his friend, fine's double. 200 "

Olethros looks at the woman speaking and feels the void of memory press against him. While he was able to repair the damage to this vessel, he was unable to restore the memories from before he claimed this body. There was a time when he could have simply wiped this woman from existence with something less than a thought. Now he had to swim through this muck of an existence. He smiles as best as he can while slowly turning to Brock.

"We all do what we have to. Sorry this settled on you. Are you going to pay?"

A bit further away, Siren takes note, that there is no battle erupting at least.

She stops for a moment, turning to Papa. "Wait!"

Then she begins to sing in a soft voice. The troll has heard that song before. She often uses it to collect her mind, when she is working her magic.

A short moment later, she says: "Better, much better!"

The stains of blood and other defilement from the incident are gone.

"Looks like things there are calming down already..."

Brock looks around to see what wares are available in response to the knife totting slitch. As much as he dispised gangs a dead man cannot do many things. " 200 and we can continue on my way without any more harasment" he lets it hang in the air a moment, "sounds steep but to keep collateral damage down its a deal" Brock looks at Ollie he approaches the female to pay his fine and continue on his way. 200 nuyen....not too bad a price for personal justice. He thought to himself I wonder what it would have been without a well known face next to me.

Brock and Olethros

The transfer of cred goes through, and the wild-eyed woman gives Brock an appraising look. "Yes, yes. No more problems--remember buy something or leave."

She moves on through the crowd, leaving the Enforcers to verify the last of it.

Siren and Papa

Many of the people step away from you as tendrils of mana weave through the air. Several of them shiver for a second as if a chill crawled down their spine.

Not leaving chance to decide his fate Brock looks at Ollie"think its time we leave chummer. People around here will not be giving me the deal of a life time anytime soon and my creds are hard earned. If you want i will head back to the house if you want to go with papa and the siren gal" Brock starts to examine the roomsweeper .he recently acquired.
@team[Brock]"well the local enforcers let it go with a fine. I think it would be best to for us all if i wasnt here anymore so i will head back into town, just let me know when you guys are done and i will meet yu all back at the house

"It's probably for the best at the moment - let me check in with Papa real quick."

Olethros resumes his previous text based conversation.

<< Now back to the potential shopping - was there a chance I could get spotted for the cost or should we find some way to generate funds? >>

<<@Ollie [Papa] Funds are pretty limited. Let me do this: I'll cut back some of my shopping list today, we'll head back to the house, take an inventory and sell off the magical stuff at the safe house. Then we'll make a plan to get everyone's matrix gear up to stuff. Sound good?>>

Now that everyone is together, Papa sends a TeamNet subscription and a request for administrative access to all the team members. I should invest in a TacNet... Yea. Struggling to afford comlinks and I'm dreaming about a TacNet.

<<@Team [Papa] Ok, let me gather a few more things then we'll head back to the safehouse.>>

<< Sounds good. >>
"Ok everyone is heading back to the house where we met. Let's make our way back. The plan is to sell a few things and then get gear since money is a little tight for most folks."

Olethros begins to wind his way through market, making sure to keep Brock in sight. He sees the request from Papa and quickly approves the access.

Brock was relieved to hear that papa and siren had not run into any trouble. "Null sheen." Was brocks only response although on his way out of the free market he did keep a eye out for a sutable sling for the room sweeper. He liked the idea of having a one shot and release weapon.

All

Hours pass as the last bit of shopping is wrapped up, ferries are taken back across the bay, and traffic in the City of Angels drags slowly forward. Olethros and Brock arrive back at the safe house first, their shopping and errands taking far less time than Papa's. By the time the four of you have convened back at the house, the sun has nearly set.

A slender, stunning elf with the barest green hue to her skin is sitting on the porch wearing cut-off shorts and a loose tanktop. She is sipping a glass of lemonade and watches the strangers with a wary eye. Despite a lack of bruises, the woman strikes you as a victim of abuse--flinching back when a hand is extended to shake, and cringing as voices are raised even slightly. She introduces herself to the newcomers as Etienne.

Brock walked up to the house with his hammer in his left hand hanging down ready to bring to bear in case she was in fact a enemy instead of a ally"hello there" walking cautiously seeing as she has recently been beat he didnt want to be seen as too agressive and to keep to a safe distance if she didnt check out. <@team[brock]"we have a visitor at the house anyone know about a new arrival">

Olethros looks over Etienne with a neutral expression and seeing her so wary and skittish stays a comfortable distance from her.

"Hello. Can we help you?"

He quickly looks at the elf and attaches an image of her to a message to Papa.

<< You all know her? Also how do you want to get a replacement for Uetz? Ask around or does our employer have someone? >>

Papa pulls the van into the driveway, happy to see that Etienne is back. As Ollie and Brock quickly exit the van, he realizes that he has not yet subscribed them as users to the home security node. He does that as he quickly follows the team out of the van.

<<@Team [Papa] Stand down. She lives here... And put that damn hammer away.>>

The front door opens and the vacu-drone moves to the door. Over its speaker, Papa speaks, softly having observed her initial reactions. "Etienne. This is Papa and these are new teammates. I am in route, but Uetz and the others are on an extended trip."

He then reaches out to Harvey: How do I contact our employers?

brock hides the hammer in response to Papa tone and the state of the female elf he didnt want to tramatize her any more then she already looked. "nice to meet you ma' am" brock tries to hide the hammer and room sweeper from sight. he didnt know the story if she was a girlfriend or what not so he didnt want to scare her anymore then she already looked.

<@Papa[brock]"i didnt know who she was sorry.>

Siren arrives in a sleek, black SUV, dressed in an equally sleek, tight-fitting leather dress. Her hair is ash-blonde now, but otherwise she looks mostly the same. She greets the others and the fragile-looking elf girl with a friendly smile and a soft voice.

"Hey guys, hello Etain. Nice to meet you."

Olethros nods a hello to Siren whose appearance drives home the gore still spattered on his back across his jumpsuit. He tries to keep his back from Etienne's vision as he opens a mass text between the people subscribed to the team.

<< So I know I keep throwing out questions but is there somewhere I can wash my clothes? I'm a little hesitant to go down to the Quickwash with what I have on my back. Also this woman presents a unique opportunity for me and for us. The people I am connected to are difficult to reach but extremely useful at times. She is potentially a conduit for three entities I know. As I said before deep and dark is something I know so I would like to ask them for help. She will NOT be harmed but the experience for the rest of you can be unnerving depending on which of the three answer. I would normally not ask but while on the metaplanes with Uetz I received a message that suggests we are seeking something stolen from deeper and darker places and I would like to see what it was and if it does relate to our work. May I? >>

Is that really one of those dryads? Siren wonders, when a message pops up in her display and pulls her out of her thoughts.

She takes a few steps back, to have a better look at Olethros's back and to be a bit farther away from Etain. Soft singing can be heard from her.

< [Siren] Dunno what you mean. Looks all fine to me. >

Those that observed her more closely might have noticed the subtle changes in her features or the tingling sensation as the mana was being collected on the astral and then moved towards Olethros's clothes.

Papa leads Siren to the safehouse, parking the van in the driveway.
<<@Team [Papa] Etienne has been through more than you can know recently so I'm going to be more than a little protective. Her emotional state is fragile and while I want to know more about the prize, there are lines not to be crossed. You need to explain "unnerving".>>

He exits the van, one duffel bag over his shoulder, the other in the van.

Brock takes off his gear and removes his bloody shirt revealing his form fitting body armor in the porch light. Brock felt like the free markets stress evaporate from his body almost like taking off a cover of hate as he stretches and wipes the access blood from his body with the removed t-shirt. "hey everyone about the market that ganger belonged to the same group that killed my family, i tried to control myself in that instance but i could not hold my rage once i recognized the gangers emblem. In the future i will try to keep my cool and stay out of those area that might have the same type of crowd." watching as Papa carefully tended to Etienne he knew they were either close friends or lovers either one he had respect for and removed himself from ear shot to not involve himself in thier conversation, once the door to the house opened up he went back to his room to put his gear away and got ready for a quick shower. he could imagine the steam from the shower would be very welcome feeling indeed.

Papa

A cloud of purple lines overcomes your vision.  It settles into a view of your living room, playing back the last few minutes of D'zan's time in the house. The hand mirror glows steadily where it is left on the table. Seconds later the vision passes.

If you lose the mirror, you must Call him. Those secrets will cost more.

All

Etienne pales at the sight of the bloody hammer and Brock's blood caked arms. She calms down somewhat when Papa starts talking. When Siren shows up, Etienne storms off to a room and slams the door. You can hear muttering of "another magic slinging slut" and "probably rape my brain" as she walks and the sound of crying from the room.

As she departs, Olethros recognizes her as the woman from his vision that fell victim to Locket's attention.

"Wow! Guess she really doesn't like awakened people," Siren says once the first shock moment has vanished.

"I can reassure you, though, that there will be no harm coming from my end. I have restraints."

With that, the young woman shoots a sideways glance at Brock.

"And you could probably use some grooming, too," she says, before repeating the same spell once more.

"im still taking a shower" brock says as he sees the gore fade from reality and heads into his assigned room to escape the mojo slining he knew very little and what he had seen in the last 24 hours was a lot to take in. he needed to chill out and comprehend all that had occured. He also now knew a new location to start hunting for Halloweeners in his free time.

Watching Etienne's reaction over the video, he winces. She has been through a lot. This will probably get worse before it gets better.

He passes the trio and heads on into the house. He is still in thought about the vision... If you lose the mirror, you must Call him. Those secrets will cost more.

He then pulls up the video he secreted away from prior to D'zan's departure. The video from the hallway showed little more than the sprite struggling to carry the book to the bathroom. The audio was acceptable, once it had been filtered several times. D'zan used the mirror to contact the huntsman.

<<@Ollie/Brock [Papa] When you were contacted to come here, how was contact made? What were you promised?>>

Dropping his duffel bag in the front room, he collects the mirror, placing it in a drawer of the old china cabinet for now. He heads to Etienne's room. Gently knocking on the door he asks, "Can we talk?"

Papa

The crying quiets down, and you hear her moving around the room, blowing her nose before she opens the door.

"Sure. Is she another girl, prettier than me, to come screw with my head? At least she's not sleeping with Uetz too. When will he be back or is this another trip to the jungle picking flowers?

Her face is red and puffy around the eyes. The floor is covered in laundry, sleeping bags, and remnants from the party. The house cleaning never made it here.

Olethros nods his thanks to Siren as the blood is peeled away and dispersed by the weaves of mana. He makes his way into the house and finds a comfortable chair to sit in. He looks on as Etienne lashes out and storms off to what he presumes is her room here. He settles in and pulls an AR window over and begins to compose another message to the team - not sure if Brock will get the information while showering - he tags the message and saves it to deliver later if needed.

<< To answer your questions - unnerving as in things not human speaking through others. I have seen corpses speak and watch the newly born look out with ageless eyes. The forces you seem involved with are not from this existence - exposure to them can be difficult to experience. As to how I was approached - two skinwalkers or shape shifters sought me out saying my interests and their Lord's were aligned. I said I would help and here I am. The promise implied was that I might be able to regain power I have lost in helping you collect these relics though I am not certain that is the case. I do believe that something is trying to close a door that I want to remain open. >>

Papa breaths deeply, mulling her words. He places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "No, she is not here to do anything to you. She is my friend, here at my request." He was not sure of the arrangement, nor situation between Uetz and Etienne... and he really didn't want to know. "He will be quite a while... perhaps a lifetime, if the stories are true... perhaps only a few days." He pauses a moment, "We will make due until he returns. Ok?"

He processes the message as well.
<<@Ollie [Papa] I'm not sure she's up to it. Let's work on the side job and replacement mage for the moment, then we'll see where she is at.>>

Papa couldn't explain his aversion to the situation. Perhaps it is all because he's lost yet another team and Etienne is almost all that remains from that group of people.

Ok Harvey. I understand I use the mirror to contact the Huntsman, right? And if I lose the mirror, I have to call *him*, but who is him? And what secrets are you talking about? Or is the issue that I don't really understand who our employers are? And if so... who are they?

Papa

The warmth wraps around your brain, flitting through your memories and forging new connections. An image of the Huntsman, standing in a loose shirt and breeches made from a leather you cannot place. Small tentacles push out from beneath his shirt, caressing a hand bound book.

This is the Huntsman, liege-lord to the winged one, and your employer. If you lose the mirror, there are other ways, dark and secret, to gain his attention. The knowledge of those ways, will require the mind of another to be shared with me.

The pieces begin to pull together in his head. The Lord of Unending Darkness is our employer, The Huntsman is one of his lieutenants. We can use the mirror to contact them, but if we loose it there are other ways... Though it sounds like we won't like those ways... and Harvey won't/can't share those ways with me... Probably requires a spell slinger. We thought all of this was a good idea why again?

<<@Team [Papa] Ok. We need a full on spell slinger. We have two choices: Contact the guys from the->>

He pauses, realizing that Siren really hadn't bought in to the job, nor the team. Perhaps I'll tone down the Lord of Unending Darkness title...

<<@Team [Papa] -other side of looking glass who hired us or we reach out to a fixer and bring in a mage or a shaman. Just so that everyone is clear: We are artifact hunting for some guys from the other side. Guys we probably don't know enough about and maybe really don't want to know more about; about like every Johnson I've ever known... >>

He considers for a moment his position: He is sole remaining member of the original team. It appears the Huntsman is at least keeping peripheral tabs on them. It appears that the new team members may have side deals already established for their participation. He needs at least one friend he can trust on this job.

<<@Siren [Papa] This job we're on. High risk and very speculative on pay, but with the potential for big payout; we are hunting artifacts after all. You want in?>>

<<@Team [Papa] So we've choice to make: Contact the Huntsman about a mage or go through a fixer. What say you?>>

All of this transpires while he stands there with Etienne, giving her a moment to mull over his words.

<< @Papa [Siren] Yeah, I figured you didn't want me to join you here for a coffee. Artifacts, huh? Sounds big. I guess I could arrange for the time, so... sure, count me in! >>

I just hope, that Brock will be a little less freehanded with that freakish hammer.

<< @Team [Siren] So, what are the current plans? Anything I could help you with right now? >>

Brock allows the water from the shower to to wash away his current actions. I have to be more careful he thought to himself. Letting his memories wander to his lost loved one made his emotions teeter back and forth from sadness to rage. times seems to stand still when Brock always thought of his past, when he was done in the shower he was not aware of how much time had passed. Hopefully enough for Papa to work out the beat up young elf, maybe that was the next job. Who know these days. Once Brock reestablishes his com and is dressed he is hit with papas question. <@Papa[brock]"my normal fixer was contacted by a third party. The only stipulation for being hired was to be able to keep what I kill and a 50,000nuyen score when it was over."> Brock put all his gear in his bag and kept it by the door with the roomsweeper and hammer being the only weapons he left out he heads down towards the kitchen realizing it was almost djnner he wanted to see if he could help out and get his mind right for what ever was coming next.

In the hallway

Etain nods, wrapping her arms around herself at the news that it could be days or never for Uetz to return. Seconds stretch into an awkward silence.

"Ok. I'll tell Rene when he gets home, Dr. Caballero said he could walk around in a day or two."

With that, she closes the door again.

Papa sighs. I definitely could have said that better.

A huge list of things going through his mind of outstanding items to be done, he reaches out to the garage door via the home automation system, opening it. He switches to the van and moves it into the garage, closing the door behind it.
He reaches out to Brock's comlink, accesses it checking to see if Brock's truck is rigged and subscribed.

He pulls the details about Hollywood Simsense Entertainment and the security guard whose comlink he infiltrated, pulls it all together into a dossier and posts it to TeamNet.
<<@Team [Papa] [@Hollywood Simsense Entertainment Dossier] Here is a site I was running legwork on. Security is tight, but the inventory is high end electronics and surveillance. Pretty sure I could upgrade response chips & optics across drones, vehicles, the house & comlinks from here. Enough extra and we could net enough for software upgrades. Also, there is a pretty well equipped team running around as our opposition. [@Video from University] Even if we simply fence their gear, insuring that didn't oppose us on the next leg would be a damn good idea.>>

He continues on through the living room pickup up his duffel bag, on to the kitchen, into the garage and the finally the van.

<< @Papa[Ollie] As you wish, as I said before I have no desire to make things any harder for anyone here. I do have one lingering concern - has anyone checked her to make sure no other nasty surprises were left by Locket. >>

Olethros seeing Brock renter the virtual dialog sends the copied texts and their replies to keep the troll in the loop.

<< @Team [Ollie] I would say recruit from who you trust more just make sure the mage we get can identify relics so we know what we're dealing with. There are possibly two of them up in the mini-loft on the ceiling. As to targets I would say the other team would be my preference. I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder for them. >>

Papa looks up the offices for Dr. Caballero. He spoofs access using the stored information from Uetz's comlink. Given that Uetz was paying the bill, Papa expected him to have access to the records.
<<@Dr. Caballero's Office [Uetz] Please provide a status on Rene and the discharge report for Etain. Thank you.>>

<<@Team [Papa] I currently do not have a fixer I trust enough nor a contact with the right connections for a mage...>>

<<@Olle [Papa] Valid point. Give her some time, then we will talk to her at dinner.>>

Papa

<<@Uetz [Dr. Caballero's Office] We have no patients with those names on our records. If you believe this is in error, please verify SIN record numbers.>>

Brock didnt realize that papa and uetz had a rival shadowrun team they had run into before. he was worried about that possibliity of them hitting the house uetz and papa had secured with the locket girl already knowing where they live and a rival team run in Brock wanted to make sure what ever they were doing would be done once the run was done he didnt like his past lingering around more then it has already. <@team[Brock]" well if the opposing shadowrun team is still in California then there are bound to be a few spots i know that they might frequent. i know this area pretty well we might be able to find them if we can find thier hangout. there are few that runners like to frequent. picking up a shadowrunner i have a guy i use on and off he is the one who hooked me up with this gig he might know a mojo slinger that would be decent enough for us."> Brock made his way to the kitchen and checked his accounts to see exaclty how he was sitting financially, with the talk of expenses he needed to make sure he had enough to keep his place going and if not to make arrangements to move them. "is that real fruit and veggies outside?" brock asks as he looks out the window into the garden through the window.

"They certainly look pretty real..." Siren says, as she just entered the kitchen and catched Brock's question.

<< @Team [Siren] Anything you know about that other team? Anything where we could start digging up some more info on them. Would be a good idea to keep them from making things difficult for us. Preferably, a non-lethal way. As for that mage. I do know a fixer, I could ask for directions. He is a business contact, not a friend, but he likely isn't involved in any of this. Also, there are relics here in the house? Maybe I could take a look at them, their aura? >>

Ok, so Dr. Caballero's treating them off the books.

<<@Team [Papa] Let's gather in the kitchen.>>

Papa exits the van and returns to house. Passing through the kitchen he says, "Siren, I'll grab that stuff and bring it here." He goes through the house, collects the items and returns to the kitchen table with them. He also retrieves the mirror, placing it face down on the table. "The mirror show allow us to contact our employer. We can start there for a mage... It would sure be the easiest to work out the nuyen and motivation. What do you all think?"

Brocks mouth starts to water and mind start to wonder a little when he sees the garden his wife used to have a garden. but upon Papa bringing the relic items and setting them on the table he just grabs a cup of water and brings his attention back to the matter at hand. "going straight to our source would be the easiest instead of having to front the cash for a new mage ourselves too. if we need money going after a opposing team would be the easier of the two i think for right now since they know what papa and uetz look like and if they will be actively looking for the same items i think we should erase any competition to ensure we arent suprised when we do succeed in finding the items in question."

Olethros pulls himself out of the chair and makes his way to the kitchen with the others. He listens as Papa speaks while looking over the collected items on the table.

"I think it's a good place to start. How do we use it to contact our employer?"

Papa lifts the mirror, turns it around and looks into it. He nearly opens his mouth to speak, but stops, deciding that discretion is really the better part of valor. Harvey - Do I just call for the Huntsman...? We need a replacement for Uetz. A mage. He thinks about the mirror and he queries Harvey for details.

The Kitchen

The floor shows scorch marks and melted linoleum that has been scrubbed recently. Papa places a stuffed rabbit with visible scorch marks and a missing eye, and a black lacquered puzzle box on the table next to an ornate gilded hand mirror. Olethros recognizes the items from the small dollhouse anchored to the wall near the ceiling of the living room.

Papa

Focus your thoughts upon the Huntsman and the mirror will look through the nearest reflection to him. If he does not wish to be disturbed, his will can block your mind. Pressing against that would be unwise.

"Hmm..." Siren sounds sceptical.

"That's certainly not what I expected. But let's have a look."

The adept then focuses her sight on the astral and takes a look at the strange relics.

Brock stood up and started to rummage through the kitchen to start making dinner he had little experience with magic and the small amount he had seen he didnt like so he kept to things he knew like making something to eat. "what do you guys want to eat? while you all work out the details for the new mojo i will see to getting us fed. i know nothing about magic either and by the looks of the beat up bunny and pretty mirror......well." he lets that linger in the air as he continues to look for pots and pans and cutting utensil. After all his deal was alreday set with his fixer and johnson. Brock was not as attached to nuyen as most people were he lived off it like anyone else but didnt crave it or really feel like he needed it anymore to live, However more info on thie rival team would be beneficial.

<@Theodore[Brock]"hoi chummer if possible i am looking for information on a rival team in the area that might pose some issues, if i send you a profile could you maybe see if they are still around and where they might be?">

Siren

The astral space around you is scarred from recent working--not permanent damage, but emotionally traumatizing. You slide past the noise and focus your mind on the small bunny. Flashes of hospital rooms push past you. The aura of the stuffed animal is unlike anything you've ever seen. It thrums with a quiet power, subtle, but greater than you can wield.

From your experience with arcane formulae, this doesn't fit the normal molds. Your best guess is that it is a unique enchantment.

Brock

<@Brock [Theodore] Send me the specs and I'll see what I can do.>

brock recieves theodores message with hopefull enthusiasim "hoi, the fixer i use might be able to find some info on that team we are looking for. if you guys want him to look into it i need maybe a few photos of them and maybe a general description of them and how they operate."