Dalma

Whispering quietly in Hindi, Father says "The two trolls are both mundane, though there is something wrong with the one who invited us in. Both the human and the elf are Awakened and powerful. The human has a disease I've never seen before. We should be safe enough for the others to return home until they are needed."

He nods thanks to the tall troll offering him coffee and sips a small amount before setting it on the table.

Still skeptical about the young woman and the coincidental nature of her arrival, Papa frowns. He looks at her wanting to see those magical things that Ollie and the others before him see and have seen. Subconsciously referencing the other video cameras to see the other teammates, he rubs his chin while looking at Jenni.

<<@Team [Papa]Are you sure that taint ain't from the Locket having some measure of influence over her?>>

"Ms Jenni, you might just want to return home and forget you've seen any of this. People are getting killed and people are dying."

<<@Dalma [Papa] [- TeamNet ARO -] [- Request for administrative account -]>>

A somewhat shrewd look tilts the corners of the woman's eyes.

" That sure ain't the same as saying you can't help a gal. You trying' at say you think whatever killed my Daddy and Ethan is tied up in whatever y'all are doing in that great big house?"

Papa softens slightly. "Ollie seems to think so, but take my advice: Go somewhere and forget this. If it is, in the end you'll wish you went someplace and put all this behind you."

Papa

Such things can be done.

Darkness overlays your vision, with shades of purple accenting and providing depth. Glancing at yourself and Brock deep threads of red run through your forms. Blue fire surrounds Jenni and the others on your team. The vision fades as quickly as it came.

Of course, knowledge and power has a price. Bind another of these to me and I will share more with you.

Jenni's shoulder's square up again, and the friendly but fierce grin reappears.

"Well, hun, you might as well set another seat at the table, then, cuz' Ah'm not going nowhere till I figure out what happened to mah Pa and mah brother, and figure a way to give it lil' payback, all permanent-like.

Olethros looks over the duo in the kitchen while following the texts scrolling past his vision.

<< @Team [Ollie] I can't be sure about her or the other woman who was already her plaything but I do not believe her presence is an accident or random. >>

He smiles or at least tries to as he speaks to Dalma.

"So you and Father were both hired by our employer?'

Papa considers the voice and the temptation...
What is required for this binding? How does it take place?

He then smiles as Jenni lays down her ultimatum. His conscious mind tells him what the answer will surely be. "Well, don't say I didn't warn ya... How far are you willing to go? What will you give to sit at this table?"

Papa

Visions flash through your mind of when you first touched the rock, the warm breeze in your mind, and the sense of someone looking over your shoulder.

Dalma nods at Father's words then zones out a bit as she reads the request in her Image Link sitting in her Contact Lenses, she ponders for a moment then takes out a manual device to accept the invitation, those who are watching see her get a bit frustrated as she tries and it doesn't seem to work.

As she works with the device she looks up at the man talking to her and smiles sweetly at him.

"Your....employer...as you put it, has friends in the spirit realm, powerful ones it seems..."

As she speaks she seems to zone out a bit as she fiddles with her commlink interface

In Hindi..."No you piece of shit, don't reboot"

Realizing she was still talking to the man she smiles again and speaks in her accented English...

"...And I am friends with the spirits, it seems like we have mutual needs"

It seems that what ever she was struggling with stopped giving her trouble and she gives a sigh of relief and happily puts the device away.

<<@Papa [Dalma] [- TeamNet ARO - ACCEPTED ] [- Request for administrative account - ACCEPTED ]>>

Brock is puzzled at dalmas difficulty with technology and her conversation that's starting to take another turn towards the spirit realms and magic, the oh so myterious stuff that makes the weakest looking individual a potential power house of spiritual destruction. Seeing what monsters lived in the realm he visited briefly showed him that a lot of things in this world were taken for granted and much worse outcomes could befall people then just death or poverty, Brock finished his thoughts to himself as he watched the interaction between the two conversations. Listening intently for information useful to all parties.

One side of Jenni's face screws up in a look that convey's a bit of irritation and some genuine disdain at what she perceives is the troll's focus.
"If yer' looking fer a roll in the hay, Mr. Tall, Blue, and Somewhat Unfriendly, Ah think yer' chasing that fox from the wrong side of the field. Ah know Ah'm a lil' hard to resist, and all, but Ah ain't about to start bartering none a' that away."

Papa shakes his head and continues to smile, "Oh no. I'm sure the cost will be nothing so simple or carnal... and it is not I who will extract the cost." He pauses a moment before continuing. "I get the impression you have been chosen, so if you're sure, come on in."

He places a hand and leans down lowering his voice, "You don't know me so I'll let it pass." His words come not as a challenge or threat, but as a statement. "I am a professional. Cautious, but professional." and with that he enters the house, leaving the door open behind him.

Once Jenni enters he passes an ARO to here as well.
<<@Jenni [Papa] [- TeamNet ARO -] [- Request for administrative account -]>>

In the living room, the rest of the team situated around the room, Papa speaks, "I am Papa. I handle the technology. You are all new to the team. On TeamNet are logs and datafiles about our opposition; I suggest you study them." He looks around at the team for a moment, taking in the fact that all his friends who started this quest will not finish it with him. "Soon we will need to head north, but first we need a milk run for supplies and a funding buffer."

Brock stretches his arms out wide"I'm Brock, pleasure meeting you all. "turning towards Papa " do we have any ideas of where or what to do for the milk run?" <@Papa[brock]"think you can do a facial recognition search on any of them to see if they pop up on the Grid">

"So it looks like, we are all in this together after all," Siren says, once everyone has been allowed inside the house.

Setting up a friendly smile, she welcomes the newcomers and introduces herself as well.

"Welcome onboard, then. I'm called Siren."

"Milk run sounds like a great way to see how everyone works together."

Olethros nods to all the newcomers in turn giving them a lopsided smile.

"You can call me Ollie."

Jenni steps into the house, smiling at everyone in turn with what seems to be a genuine, if low, level of warmth.

"Ah'm Jenni, Jenni MacIntyre. I've been riding, wrangling, and trackin' critters since Ah was knee-high to a grasshopper. Ah kin tell ya' what's dangerous and what's not, though Ah don' reckon' most of mah range-smarts are going to ta' be much use in tha City. Thankfully, Ah'm a right smart shot, too." She taps the revolver, slung low across one hip in a completely old-fashioned gun-fighter's arrangement.

"And Ah wanted ta' say thanks. Ah'm pretty sure ya'll ain't the most trusting bunch, heck, prolly got good reasons not ta' be. But it means a lot ta' me ta' be able to do something about that thing that...well, anyway, mah thanks."


<<@Papa [Jenni] There you go, wantin' a girls unmentionables again.. [- TeamNet ARO ACCEPTED -] [- Request for administrative account ACCEPTED -]>>

Dalma looks at each person in turn, mainly focusing on their eyes as they talk, when the introductions go through she smiles and looks around...

"And my name is Dalma, for those who have not met me yet and this is Father"

Papa highlights the dossier on Hollywood Simsense Entertainment in AR. "I have put this forth as a possible run. I need hardware upgrades that I think can be acquired here as well as an opportunity for some software. We can liquidate any excess for funds. Anyone have anything better or a reason we shouldn't hit these guys?" He looks around the team for consensus or reservations. "Also, we have a team that we need to locate and smack down a little payback for interference with our business. Anyone have a personal reservation with terminal solutions?"

He suddenly realized how little he knew about everyone in the room. He still felt a measure of trepidation about Jenni's skin in the game, but a substantial tie to the attack on her family may prove a stronger tie than the more mercenary members of the team. Moving his eyes to Brock, he knew for sure the other troll was up for carnage; he'd proven that in the short time they'd been acquainted. His personal experience with Siren afforded her the highest amount of trust, but the willingness of each team member to trust him with their comlink took away the edge of his paranoia. He needed to learn more about the others, but that would come in time.

"Don'chall pretty much interfere with each other as part of doin' business?" The lanky cowgirl seems to give Papa's question some serious thought.

"Ah'm not above doing what needs to be done, we've fought off enough poachers and raiders that they wouldn't be the first ones, and Ah don't mind lightening a few corporate pockets along the way, Lord knows they were enough of a bother for mah Pah, but Ah jus' don't see how chasin' down them boys that whacked ya'll in the nose gets us any closer to the end ah this here trip. Ah ain't saying don't do whatcha' ya'll need ta do, but Ah ain't got anything personal against them, and they ain't dun nothing to me. Yet. Ah'll wait back atta hotel, and ya'll can give me a call when you're done."

Papa looks to Jenni. "Its a little deeper than simple revenge. The other team is in the employ of the opposition. A preemptive strike removes them as opposition on the current endeavor. They also tend to leave a swath of blood in their wake and I personally prefer to be a little cleaner and selective in targeting." He pauses, considering his words. "I'm sure you can appreciate the desire to have professionals who limit the swing of their sword to reduce civilian casualties...?"

Brock smiles slightly laughing on the inside." well the first thing about completing our job is to get rid of the opposition so I'm in agreement at getting rid of the other team in that aspectim not big on waiting for a known threat to hit me when I least need them to. As for the soft run if it will help us in the long run I am satisfied with getting what we need" Brock stands up and takes a look out the window to see if any other visitors are going to show up then makes his way to the kitchen for another helping and refills his glass.

Olethros listens to the exchange then interjects in a pause that follows. He nods his head yes to the spoken plan of the theft then eliminaitng the other team. When he does speak he locks eyes with Jenni - his expression grim and serious.

"If I'm correct then you will have little choice in the matter. It's already personal with the murder of your family. The opposition is Locket and I can count on one hand the number of entities that have passed through the Gallery to this reality. Whatever killed them traveled the same path and I would lay odds that Locket has found agents here to do her work. She would have bindings on her to limit her severely here but that would be the easiest and quickest way for her to work around them, with intermediaries. It is my belief the other team is connected to her in some fashion and I suspect the thing that brought death to your kin and blood."

He takes a brief drink, breaking eye contact and looks into his cup, speaking more to himself than anyone else.

"We all need illusions - ideas that we stretch over the reality of who we are and what we have done. I do not begrudge you that but have a care that it doesn't blind you to the true danger of where you have chosen to be."

Brock listened to ollie and thought a moment about jenni and her situation " the business we are in there is little room for the feint of heart or the weakness of the strong willed to get what we want we must be ready to do what ever measure of violence etc to do what needs to be done, I have seen what happens first hand good people be slaughtered for toning more then a imaginary line" Brocks mention of his wife tragedy only makes his voice seem to get a murderous cold tone to it in the end. "I'm in the business for a reason and during that time I have done some things a lot of you probably wouldn't agree with but it was my job and if killing that team that you guys went up against helps us as a team and brings me closer to my big payout believe me when I say I'll do what ever is nneccessary to accomplish our goal."

She seems a bit disquieted at Ollie's statement, leaning back against a nearby section of wall and slipping her arms across her chest, a troubled look replacing the grin for a few moments. She seems to find a measure of resolution at Papa and Brock's commentary, however.
"Well, why didn'cha say so in that' first place? If they're working for the otha' team, Ah'm all for taking' care of 'me before they can get ta' us." She pushes herself up off the wall, her demeanor apparently restored.
"Where to first, Leader-man?"

Looking around the team, the troll realized that he'd inadvertently maneuvered himself into the lead role for the team. Raising a hand, "Just a moment" he steps into the kitchen to collect the regents and relics and returns to the collected team in the living room. "We need to get as much for these as possible... and as soon as possible."

For a moment, a wave of greed washed over Papa. None of this team had worked to acquire these goods... He pushed aside those thoughts, looking at the long term: We're not gonna live through this, let alone succeed, if we aren't all up to the task. And if I were a demi-god dropped into world of technology, I'd either beat my opposition with technology... or it would be the fulcrum in leveraging my own undoing...

"Any additional appraisals and any suggestions towards liquidating them would be the place to start. Following that we need to decide on a strategy for Hollywood Simsense Entertainment . Off the top of my head, I had two possible strategies: 1) Early morning infiltration or 2) Exploit a security officer to whom I have identified. We could catch them off work and either impersonate them or just exploit their access. I am open to a third strategy as neither of those are fully vetted. Third thing on the list: Identify team members from the opposition and plan an assault. Fourth and final big ticket item: Head into the Tir and retrieve the next artifact. Of course, there has yet to be a positive identification on the location of that..." He noted each of these on TeamNet for future reference as well and gives the team at large a few minutes to digest the magnitude of that which that face. He also saves the third artifact for another day.

"I know a talismonger, whom I could ask to appraise these for us, so we have a better idea about their worth," Siren offers.

"Apart from that, I could do some old-fashioned legwork and try to find out more about that other team. Maybe something about their hangouts. Knowledge is power, right?"

"I am afraid I have little to offer in the planning stages but I like the idea of the early morning hit on Hollywood Simsense Entertainment. If possible I would like to seek out my contacts and see if I can find out what was stolen from the Gallery. I am also going to see if I can find out what exactly Locket was sent here for if possible." Olethros chimes in after Siren finishes speaking.

"I can also play escort for anyone that thinks they might need someone watching their back or muscle."

A thought crosses Papa's mind and he takes a chance. While the team looks at the other items, he goes to the kitchen, gets the mirror, and returns with it to the living room. He turns over the mirror, looks into the mirror and focuses his thoughts on D'zan...

"Ah'm afraid Ah don't know too many folks up around these parts...Ah'm ready and willing to head in to where ever we're planning our little heist."

The Mirror

The mirror grows cloudy for a few seconds and then shows a large rock and several ferns. D'zan dives down out of the sky, landing on the rock. The bow that he acquired recently is in his hand, but his armor has changed. It looks to be made from the carapace of several spiders.

"We are hunting..." He stops in mid-sentence as he looks down at the reflection. "Oh. We do not have much time, the Master's will presses.

Dalma was just standing there quietly listening to the discussion at hand, but her eyes seemed to perk up when Papa walked in with the Relics, finally something I understand!

Father looks over at Dalma and then at the items being brought a hint of recognition in his eyes, she walks over to Papa looking at the items...


"Oh, these are beautiful, may I inspect them?"

Looking to Papa making sure he wasn't overstepping his place, Olethros replies.

"Yes please. We are trying to figure out what properties they possess. Assuming no one has any objections?"

As Dalma walked over to Papa looking at the items in his arms, she inspected them, Father walks over behind her and silently whispers in Hindi to her, Dalma looks over to him intriguingly and nods.

"This box, Father recognized it, it is a spirit formula for a Free Spirit, when the box is opened, the spirits binds to the person, though I do not know the details of the pact itself"

As her eyes wander over, away from the box and settle at the rabbits foot she gasps in fear.

"Oh dear, that can be dangerous"

She spends a few more moments looking at the rabbits foot.

"This item, enhances contagions and when held by someone with a disease, the filth becomes much more potent and wide spread, this we would not want to get into the wrong hands"

Olethros raises his eyebrows, clearly impressed by the new addition's ability to decipher the relics collected so far.

"Good to know. Can you investigate the box further and let us know what you find?"

He stands while talking, putting his dirty dishes in the sink in the kitchen.

"While Dalma does that, I suggest we see what buyers we can line up for the materials and the relics we have. Papa mentioned some legwork for Hollywood Simsense or what prep is needed depending on the plan we go with. I still vote for the early morning insertion. I need to see about talking to the contacts I have about what was stolen from the Gallery and how it might connect to all of this. Anything else you want me to ask about in the metaplanes?"

He rinses them off and stacks them neatly on the counter, giving a nod of thanks to Brock for the meal. He pauses at the doorway of the kitchen to see if anyone tasks him with other questions.

The conversation continues around Papa as the pixie appears in the mirror. The additional information changes his question, "The box; the formula. What can you tell me about the spirit and its pact?" The possibilities of the box begin to tug at him. He also considers who on the team he should consider passing Harvey to.

A small frown crosses his brow as he thinks about the rabbit's foot.
<<@Team [Papa] I am not sure we can allow the rabbit's foot to leave. There are lines we should not cross.>>

The Mirror

D'zan shakes his head. "Nothing, I was saving stuff from being destroyed. As soon as I opened the door, fire spread everywhere. Someone didn't want anything to survive if the wrong people came into the room. What do they do?"

Seeing the new text from Papa to the team, Olethros quickly replies.

<< @Team[Ollie] I wasn't sure how you wanted to handle that - being new to this team and most everyone being fresh faces. I agree, in the wrong hands that relic could be disastrous. I'm not sure if it can be used in a benign way. The question of course, is what to do with it? Can it be broken down into worthwhile materials perhaps? >>

Papa considers the situation and decides that at least a most truth is the best policy.
"A spirit formula and something tied to diseases I am told." He pauses a moment before looking to end the conversation. He smiles at the pixie. "Thanks anyway. Good hunting."

Given a shallow knowledge of things magical, he waits for others to respond to Ollie.

<< [Siren] I totally agree about that rabbit's foot. It really doesn't sound like something we want in the wrong hands... and I wouldn't know what the 'right hands' would even want it for, so a potential buyer for it will always have something bad in mind. It is not for me to decide, but if you ask me, I would keep it locked away. >>

Dalma seems to space out a bit as the conversation starts flying on her Image Link, back and forth the discussion continued on this TeamNet thing she just joined that she wasn't sure how to respond, she moved her hand to her interface device then thought for a moment...wait, why are we talking like this am I am right in front of them?

"I would agree, as I said, this Rabbit's Foot is dangerous, we might want to destroy it, I can try to find out if it can be destroyed safely..."

"Ollie mentioned materials you want to sell. What are these? As for the relics, I could ask around a bit, maybe I can find a potential buyer for the formula, and as said before, I would prefer to keep or even better destroy that malicious rabbit's foot," Siren says.

"I could also try to find out a bit more about that simsense company, though you already have a bunch of information, and I'm not sure how much in terms of security details I can get. How much time do we have before we need that run to happen?"

Papa gestures to the vials containing the regents. "I'd like to make the run in the next few days. We have lots to do and our window is small to get the next artifact."

Thursday -- July 21, 2072
Siren

You head out, knowing from past experience that Kassandra prefers to deal face to face when buying items. Southbound traffic is fairly light. The neighborhood is run down with only the occasional home or business showing the care and attention needed to take care of it. A concrete egg-carton style apartment complex looms over the block.

Inside, the Pueblo ork nods to you once, holding up a hand to give her a minute. She finishes the sale and a muscular Italian leaves the store, his tailored long coat revealing a silver hilted knife nestled in the small of his back.

"Come child, let me see these items." As you array out the small vials before you, she nods distantly. A few seconds later, she breathes in sharply, reaching at her side as if in pain, but it subsides.

"These, I can sell. I will give you 8,000 for the four of them. The other thing, this box, I can seek out buyers for it. My cut is fifty percent, if you're associate can provide the details about the box that you said she was looking into. It is seventy if I must do the research for you."

Olethros

Walking out onto the street, you feel a soft pull to turn right. Several blocks pass below your feet as you amble down the quiet road. You hear two car doors slam, an engine revving away, then the quiet whimpering of a man.

He's bleeding from a cut in his forehead, the blood dripping down to block his vision. The ground around him is pooling with blood from stab wounds in the back. Kneeling down beside him, he's whispering prayers between sobs of pain.

"I'm glad to see you can still hear me through the pounds of meat you've wrapped around yourself."

After brief pleasantries, your questions come up.

"Two red lenses from the helm of Oneiros were taken. The guardian says it felt a creature but could not see it."

"That sounds fair enough. The bigger question, however, is: Fifty percent of what are we talking about here?" Siren asks. "Or do we need the research done before we can even estimate a price tag for this item? Before I can say yes, we will need to get at least an estimate here."

<< @Team [Siren] I can sell the reagents for 8k, if you are ok with that. The relic needs some further details, but my contact would be willing to find a buyer, for a reasonable cut of 50%. Of course, she is in the market of such things, so finding a buyer who is paying well will be much easier for her than it might be for me. >>

Brock felt a little under used he had little experience with the magic stuff they were discussing but he was more interested in the quick job and rival team going after the same artifacts, he felt comfortable with the others doing the magic research <@team[brock]"what ever we do i think if we are going to do the run we will need to do some recon before we do anything if none has already been done">

Olethros smiles at the taunt, his face settling on a smirk as he converses with the slowing dying shell.

"Strange....so it was sent to retrieve them? Or is this offer just for me? What properties do these lenses carry here in this reality and is there a way to track them?"

He looks over the body and sees the growing blood pool - these vessels were so fragile even his after all the alterations he could make in his diminished state. It could be killed so easily.

Olethros

"It was sent to gather the items of power which hold the Gallery open to this place. The lenses have no special power on their own, though He cannot wear the mask without them."

The glow of life from the bleeding man, begins to fade. In a few more seconds he will pass on.

"Potmos keeps his own council, but I suspect this was an attempt to show us that the thief could come and go as it pleased."

"Thank you and I will see what can be done to find the missing lenses. Perhaps even determine the identity of the thief and their purpose as it relates to the Gallery."

Olethros stands from kneeling near the body, taking care to avoid the blood pool and makes his way back to the main streets to find a cab to reunite with the rest of the team.

Siren

"Without knowing precisely what I'm selling, I can't give you a price can I child? I have seen spirit formulae go for between fifty thousand nuyen to several million if rumors are to be believed."

Seeing your attention shift to the Matrix, she gives you space and begins tidying up around the shop.