[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:22pm | In the Hub, Jimmy's Number 5]

Riot and Wolf arrive very nearly on time, just a minute or two after 3:15. Shortly thereafter, Doc enters and the team adjourns to the borrowed van.

The route is due north for a good ways, taking Washington Avenue the whole way up. The land becomes more and more pastoral as you leave the industrial portion of the Sioux sector heading north, eventually leading into territory that has been given over to ranchland and other open space.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 2:25pm | In the Hub, Jimmy's Number 5]
Kim: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

Kim wondered if Kreskin was really going to force the issue, but bringing it up came to no surprise. Perhaps she should give him a fair warning, since his confusion was her fault.

“To be honest, I thought we would go to a stadium to see the actual arena. If I’d known we would go to a bar to watch a screen, I’d probably wouldn’t have come and if I’d known Shinners, I definitely wouldn’t have.

When I read the rules, I thought the game would be very fast and full of action. It’s clear unfortunate accidents happen, but the players know the risks and choose to play anyway. All, those guys in the bar wanted to see was blood though, for me only winning counts.

Let’s just forget about it.”

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 2:26pm | In the Hub, Jimmy's Number 5]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin's expression went from amused to sort of apologetic. "Yeah, sorry about that." Her response and body language told Kreskin he better not make the joke he was going to make about 'oral satisfaction'. Instead, he said, "I actually thought we were going somewhere to actually see the game, live, too. Riot didn't mention we were going to a sportsbar until you and I were already on our way into the CAS. Still, I appreciate you putting in the effort to play along. I wouldn't call it a team-building exercise, but, you gotta admit, Riot was a lot friendlier than the last time you saw him." He shrugged, turning his attention back to his comm for a second, and speaking while he typed. "I had a good time... but I don't think Combat Biker is really my scene."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:22pm | Traveling towards the Sioux sector]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin and Angel make smalltalk and kill time for the next 45 minutes or so, until a van arrives out front and Riot sends them a message announcing their arrival. Kreskin grabbed his jacket, and followed Angel out of the bar, then waited for Riot to get a block away before speaking about the job. "Okay, we don't know much more than I said in my message, but I figure we can talk a little more freely in person." He tapped a few commands onto his commlink. "I'm sending you all a picture of the Johnson, 'Falcone', and his assistant, Hafiz, and, Riot, here is the address we're going to."

"We've been told that this guy is an ex-fixer, turned J, with corporate ties, who got himself into an undisclosed mess, and needs a team mobilized to clean it up for him. The whole thing smells of desperation, which might give us an edge, during negotiations - but should probably give us reason to be cautious, as well. Tabby mentioned our team is a bit high profile at the moment, after our last job, but they're putting this thing together last-minute, and they're willing to overlook it. That, and the fact that neither of these fixers know any other teams they'd rather call, raise a few red-flags, but I'm willing to hear the guy out. We were assured that if we didn't like what he had to say, we could walk away without any hard feelings. Of course, if we keep the guy waiting until close to six and turn him down, we'll be leaving him high and dry, so my plan is we go straight there. If we take the job, it'll give us more time to prepare, and if we don't, it'll give him more time to find someone else. Either way, it looks better on our resumes." Kreskin paused for a second, glancing in the back of the van, and doing a double-take, as though he just noticed all of the gear back there. He didn't say anything about it, though, he just smiled and asked, "So, what do you guys think?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:23 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"Sounds like a good opportunity for us to prove our worth again. It shows that we can perform well in crunch time, when the chips are down, and its a must win situation. Plus, if this Falcone guy is as connected as he sounds, might be a good guy to know. Also, from what you said of Tabby, sounds like she's an up and coming fixer. Might nice to get on her good side early, while she's breaking into the game. Knowing that we helped her out in a pinch, she might toss some lucrative jobs our way," Riot said, noting the potential upsides of the situation.

"First think I'd like to address is that we need to start negotiating coverage of expenses. I'm renting this van from the Ironsiders, we're likely to have to use some consumables, and maybe even grease some palms. So Kreskin, if you can work that in, might be good. Probably a good idea for Angel to dazzle the old man with her charm and you try and eak every last nuyen out of him. Should work like a charm. Any with that, I'm going to retreat into the Matrix for a little data search action. Be back in 10."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:23pm | Traveling towards the Sioux sector]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

"You're the boss." Kreskin looks from Riot to Angel. "Playing good-Runner-bad-Runner sounds like fun. You soften him up, and I'll play hardball." Looking around at the van he adds, "As far as expenses, how much is this can costing us for the night?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:23 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"Not sure yet, depends on how long and how beat up it gets. Just have him cover all reasonable expenses incurred for the mission," Riot said, then tapped his commlink and headed to the Matrix in VR mode.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:23pm | Traveling towards the Sioux sector]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

"I'll see what I can do, but I wouldn't expect a blank check." Kreskin isn't sure if Riot could still hear them when he's in VR or not, since this is a new van, but shrugged, and continued talking with the rest of the team as they continued their ride.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:27 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]

Searching for both Falcone and the Horse Trot lead you to the same information. It seems that Horse Trot Ranch is a multi-acre corporate getaway site owned by Falcone Corporate Consultants. FCC specializes in corporate retreats for mid-ranking executives and leadership development customized for a wide range of corporate cultures. They have a moderate presence on the Matrix, referenced mostly in corp newsletters and advertising in the same arena. It all appears to be entirely above-board from your initial search.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:28 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

Snapping back to AR, Riot adjusted himself in the seat. "We'll I was able to cross reference Falcone and Horse Trot uncovering that Falcone own a small consulting firm called Falcone Corporate Consulting. Anyway, looks like this Horse Trot Ranch is used a corporate retreat, where they can take employees and do some team building and leadership activities, as well as relax and socialize. Anyway, seems pretty obvious that this situation involves a corporation and their employees."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:28 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Kim: PAN = active | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

The atmosphere in the van was a lot better than last time they were all together. Kim did not want to ruin it by talking about money, but feared the others would take any kind of clean-up job if the pay was good. If she was going to do the negotiations with Kreskin, she had to discuss any boundaries now.

“I’m not sure what to expect, but is there anything that any of you will not do?”

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:28 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"Ah, you're referencing...ah what do they call it in the biz....wetwork? Killing people right? I mean, I've never. But then again, I never met a man that needed killin'. Depends, I suppose, if he's evil...like a rapist or something...of course I can go all medieval on him. But if not, well, that just awkward. You think this 'clean up' means 'taking care of' someone?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:28 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Kim: PAN = active | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

“It might. Can’t hurt to know how everyone feels about it, before we start negotiations.”

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29pm | En Route to the Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin considered his next comment carefully. "If wetwork were involved, I don't think that Tabby would have recommended we 'travel light'." He shrugged, "Then again, she might not know any more details than we do."

"Let's just come up with a signal - maybe use our comms if we have to - so that everyone can let Angel and I know if we're even interested in taking the job. "

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29pm | En Route to the Horse Trot Ranch]

"All you need for wetwork is a knife." Wolf broke in, having been silent for some time. "Who's packing lethal ammo?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29pm | En Route to the Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin raised a hand, slowly. "Got some knives, too..." He raised an eyebrow. "... still hope we don't need them."

Saturday April 9th 2072 329pm En Route to the Horse Trot Ranch"]

"But you still carry them. You'll likely be carrying them on the job. Which we'll hopefully get paid for. And in the execution of which we might have to kill someone. Might not be wetwork but it's still killing to get paid."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"This discussion is actually good. Kreskin helped me grab a grenade launcher. Did everyone grab or have flare comp and theral vision? If shit gets real, I'm going to lay down some flash 'nades to blind the bad guys and then smoke to provide portable cover for us. The beauty is, with thermal vision, you can see through the smoke while the bad guys hopefully can't. Also, for the non-lethal approach, I have flash bangs, which can wreak havoc on tightly clustered enemies. If we need to punch some holes in something, I got some HE, or high explosive rounds. These things could blow a hole in most standard vehicles, so if we have to tackle something like that, we're prepared."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]

"Not talking tactics Riot."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"No Wolf, but it bears mention as it is relevant to the current topic. Makes sense to game plan for combat situations now that we've got some time to talk about our capabilities. Once we know what we're all good at, we can come up with some basic combat tactics. Even the lowest level Combat Biker teams have offensive and defensive tactics. So what's your specialties? Wolf, you look like a hunter. By the use of a bow, you value silence and stealth...the sneak attack. Same goes for you Kreskin. Except you go for the underestimated route. Doc, well she's got the big pump shottie...and from the last mission, looks like she can use it. Angel though, not sure how you fit into our offensive or defensive capabilities. I've only ever seen Karl Kombatmage, and what you is nothing like that...."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:29 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]

"So if its wetwork, we do it?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 3:30pm | En Route to the Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin kept quiet while the two orks discussed gear, tactics, and morality. When Wolf asked the question on everyone's mind, Kreskin spoke up. "There's a big difference between killing someone to save your own ass, and killing someone to save someone else's. I'm not saying I'll dismiss it out of hand, but I don't think I need the money that bad. In my experience, if you can avoid taking lives, you can avoid making enemies...." He shrugged, "There are certainly some jobs I would pass on - and not just wetwork - but there are enough variables, that I can't really say until we've heard the pitch."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:05pm | The Horse Trot Ranch, Sioux Sector, Denver]

The drive itself is uneventful, even the crossing into Sioux territory was a piece of cake, with a cursory glance at the van and no inspection of the contents whatsoever.

As you approach the ranch, you see a driveway that leads onto the property, and pull in and into a parking space near the largest buildings there.

The first thing you notice is that the Ranch in the name is no misnomer. As you step out of the van, the smell of horses and fresh hay is immediate. As you approach the entrance to the ranch proper, you see a man that you recognize from the photo you were given as Hafiz. He approaches you with purpose, but does not speak until the range is short enough that he doesn't need to raise his voice.

"Thank you for coming, my friends. Mr. Jaron, he will be speaking with you in the rear stables."

He leads you into one of the two large buildings and straight towards the back. Your eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside the stable. Hafiz moves over to stand behind the man you recognize from the file as Jaron Falcone. Falcone is seated in a stainless steel wheelchair. A sharply angled nose draws your attention to him immediately and despite, or perhaps because of, his disability, Jaron has a practiced air of confidence that seems to overcome his physical inability.

“Thank you all for coming. I apologize if I am short with you, but time is of the essence right now."

"A package dear to my business was forcefully removed from the ranch this morning. You job is going to be to retrieve said package and return it to
me. I will provide you with substantially more information if you agree to take the job. I'm willing to pay 7000Y, each, for a successful return of the package. I can offer you 1000Y each up front, to cover any expenses you might incur."

He stops there, and waits to hear your response to the offer.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:05pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kim: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

Kim places her hand on Kreskin’s shoulder, as if to say I’ve got this, while she steps forward and opens a mindlink.

“No apologies needed Mr. Jaron, we’re all friends here. We can all imagine losing something that’s very dear to us and we would want it back as soon as possible too. It’s even worse if it was forcefully taken away, I would imagine I’d want some kind of punishment to go with it. Just tell us what exactly it is you have in mind.”

**move along, move along**

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:06pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Nodding to Kim in understanding, he demures and provides a little more information.

"The 'package' in question is one of my clients. A male, mid-thirties, who was taken by force from the ranch. I need to have him returned, safely, and quickly. Are you five up for the job?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:06pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kim: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

“Don’t worry, you couldn’t have asked for better help with your problem.”

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:06 pm | Traveling toward Sioux Sector]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

<<Riot@Team: Sound good to me, 7k per is a lot of dough, but more up front would be nice. Work your magic you too.>>

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:07pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin accepts the mindlink - a rather usual experience - but he tries to remain focused on the conversation and to make an 'unconvinced' face when Kim begins going on about how much the team would like to help.

Good job getting more info. Make it clear you're interested, and think we can do it, but make sure we don't agree to anything too hastily. We want him to feel like we're willing and capable of helping him, and that you're already on board, but that some of us need more convincing. He's already offered us a lot, so I don't think we can push him far, but let's see if we can eek out a little more to make Riot happy.

"This is a little short-notice for an extraction, even moreso if we have to locate the 'package' ourselves," Kreskin said, trying to appear interested, but not eager. He took a deep breath as if think - really thinking - about accepting the offer. "I can appreciate your need to keep the details to yourself, until you have some agreement on our part, but - without them - we're going to have to assume a worst-case scenario, and, with this sort of situation..." He made another face that said he was having second-thoughts. "... the worst-case is pretty bad."

"I think its safe for you to assume that we're up for the job and that we are interested in helping, but before we settle on our fee, I would either like to have a few more questions answered or hear a larger number to make sure we can deal with whatever comes up - or with whatever the fallout might be agreeing. Otherwise, we're negotiating blind about a rush-job, and may end up having to cut corners and take extra risks - both with our lives, and with your package - and nobody want that."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:10pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

"Your words have a good deal of merit," he allows, "and expenses can be difficult to predict. I can't give you many more details, except to say that you'll have access to the room from which he was taken, and every bit of information we can provide. And I can offer you 3000 of the 7000, each, up front to deal with any contingencies. Your reputation thus far says that you're reliable, for all that the word of a friend of a friend is worth." He smiles wryly, waiting for your final yea or nay.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:10pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kim: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Angel Snow

“I’m sorry; I was under the impression you knew where the man was being held. Without more information there’s just no way for us to get an estimate on how long we’ll need to find him. Can’t you just show us the room?”

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:10pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

"No, more's the pity," he says, "I do not know who took him, nor where he is being held. Were I to hold that information, I might have even been inclined to approach the local authorities. It's that serious a situation."

He takes a deep breath. "Do we have a deal, ladies and gentlemen? Or do I need to look for a different group of 'runners?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:11pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

We negotiating for more information, and more money - its clear he can't really budge on either account - let's just take the job, on good faith, and let me see if I can put a little spin on it and maybe improve our reps, instead.

Kreskin rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "I was told - like you said, for all that the word of a friend of a friend is worth - that you've got corporate connections now." He paused for a moment, as though carefully considering his next statement. "... so I have to assume you realize that asking us to cover our expenses with money taken from our own profit, is effectively a worse deal for both of us. It means that we're going to be heavily encouraged to complete the job as cheaply as possible to try to hold on to as much of our original payout as we can." Kreskin raised his hands in a helpless sort of expression. "...and, by offering to front-load our payment, you are - probably unintentionally - reducing the incentive we have to see this thing through, if things bad enough to require spending that kind of money."

Kreskin gestured towards Angel, "... and as my associate here has pointed out, that payout will look smaller and smaller the longer we need to spend on your case."

"But, It's clear you're trying to do us a solid, here, and we appreciate the risk you're taking by working with a relatively new team." Kreskin didn't think he was undermining his position too much by telling the Johnson something he already knew. "I just hope that you can see where I am coming from, and appreciate that we're up front and honest about all of this, and that - when we do complete this job - that you appreciate the fact that we may have been forced to choose between our reputations, and our bottom line."

"If that translates into more work in the future, or a glowing recommendation, I'm sure my team and I would be happy to do everything we can to rescue your friend."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:15pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Falcone gives Kreskin the kind of nod that one gives to one's peers when they've been particularly eloquent. "Well said. Suffice to say that, if nothing else, you will always have a place to go should you find yourself in need of a bolt hole in the future."

"Before I send you off with Hafiz here, to see the room, let me give you as much detail as I can, and hope that you'll understand my reluctance to share such information before I had assurances that you were on my payroll."

"The guest who was abducted from my ranch is named Jonathan Belenkiy. He's an executive with Ares, in charge of their Personal Arms and Armor R&D department." A picture is delivered to your comm units of the man. "We didn't even know he'd gone missing until nine this morning, when we got a random demand for his return - 250,000 into a numbered account in the Zurich Orbital bank. Hafiz and other staffers leapt into action, and found that his room had been ransacked. Looking at video footage from the security cameras showed us three women - human or elves by their build - in tribal masks and body armor sneaking into the compound."

He pauses briefly. "That was just before five this morning. You may have the footage as well, but the light isn't good, and the masks prevented us from getting any identification on the assailants. Also note that, at 8:30 this morning, our security system was hacked. Thankfully, we run a tight ship here, and the video footage was not tampered with or deleted."

"The ransom note said that not only would Belenkiy be killed if we didn't meet their demands by 9am tomorrow, but the culprits will actively spread the word that I chose to let the man die. Even more than paying out two hundred fifty thousand nuyen, that would spell the end of Falcone Corporate Consulting."

He gives Kreskin a long, hard stare. "It is of great importance to me that you return Mr. Belinkiy, intact, before the reward is due. But if you can also manage to find out who the blackmailer is, and give me his or her name, I will find a way to pay you an additional 1000 nuyen, each, for the information." He looks hard, and you see the man who used to haggle with shadowrunners shine through for a moment.

"Now," he continues, "let Hafiz show you to the room. We sealed it, against any further entry."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:15 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"Thank you sir," Riot said, now that negotiations were complete. "Lead the way?" he asked, looking at Hafiz.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Hafiz leads you out the doorway and along a path that leads across the ranch, with a few odd turns and twists along the way. Your gut impression is that he's taking the scenic route to keep you out of the eyesight of the other guests at the ranch. He chit chats along the way, answering basic questions about the ranch and the like as he leads you along.

When you arrive at the room, Hafiz overrides the door lock mechanism and opens the door.

The room looks trashed. Drawers have been pulled out, clothing scattered, toiletries strewn around, the bed is unmade, blankets on the floor and the mattress shifted. Two things that immediately stand out from a common tossing of a room are a lingering scent of patchouli, and an obsidian knife jammed into the wall just above the bed.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

Riot enters the room, running a diagnostic on his Attention Co-processor, making sure it was running at 100% efficency. There had to be clues here. The obsidian knife was obvious, but he didn't know what it meant. The minty smell was intriguing. He began a methodical look around the room...just like they did on those cop shows.



"Is that mint smell purposefully placed, part of the room's environmental control?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Before Falcone left, Wolf spoke up, some of the info that had just been revealed bothered him.

"Does Ares know he's missing? Why blackmail you not them?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

"An insightful question. No, Ares is not aware of his absence, and I would like to keep it that way. Bad for business..."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Riot begins to give things the once-over. The first thing he sees is, under the edge of the bed, is a commlink. On the side table are a pair of glasses with electrodes along the strap at the back.

The source of the patchouli smell becomes much more intense towards the bathroom, where you can see many, many cigarette butts in the sink, giving off that scent.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

"Worse for the kidnappers if they kill him."

----

While Riot searched the room, Wolf examined the knife in the wall.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:22 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

Riot grabs the commlink, checking to see if it is on. This could be a nice lead, he thinks to himself. Looking around the bathroom, he take one of the cigarettes. Looking around, he looks for whatever would have contained the cigarettes. Mint scented cigarettes must be pretty distinctive, shit he'd never heard of them. Maybe only obtainable at a few high end stores. The way he smokes them, who ever works there might know something of this Belenkiy guy, since he'd be buying in bulk.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:15pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Before they head out with Hafiz, Kreskin decides to ask a couple of questions of the man in charge. He expected that Hafiz could answer his questions as easily as Falcone, but ultimately, it would be Falcone that would have to decide if this was information they could share. "If it doesn't betray Mr. Belenkiy's privacy too much, could you tell us what the purpose of his visit, here? How long as he been here, and when was he scheduled to leave? Would it also be out of question to ask you to give Riot, here, access to the security logs of the hacked system? There might be some clues he could glean that your own admins overlooked." He thought a little bit longer. "When Mr. Belenkiy checked in, did your organization collect any medical information, which Doc here might find relevant?"

He collects a few answers, and then begins again. "I hope you don't mind all of the questions - just say the word you need to get going. I am curious if your finances would appear, publicly or privately, to be able to support such a payoff?"

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:22 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

The comm is currently set in hidden mode, and there's an indicator on the screen that says it's locked down, waiting for either a passcode or an RFID tag to come into proximity. It's a Transys Avalon link, but the screen shows a custom Ares branded OS.

There's no evidence of any cigarette packages, just an empty cellophane wrapper. Looking at the butts, you see that they're hand rolled - the package might be what's left from a packet of rolling papers.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

In the room, Kreskin looks around, along with the others, but seems to be directing most of his attention to Hafiz. "Was the note a physical hand-written thing? or printed? digital? Could I get a look at it along with the footage?" As Riot and Wolf begin taking things, he smirks and mutters something about tainting the crime scene, but makes no attempt to stop them.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:15pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

"Mr Belenkiy was here for a retreat. There are still many other mid-level executives from other corporations enjoying our hospitality here today. Our guests arrived last night, and the conference runs throughout the weekend."

He gestures to Hafiz, who sends over the footage of the security tapes, as well as the logs for the hacking attempt.

"We don't collect such information from our guests, normally. We had no reason to suspect any medical issue for Mr. Belenkiy. He seemed in solid enough health when he arrived at any rate."

"As for our ability to pay... while we are a successful company, I would have an impossible time trying to liquidate enough goods to come up with that sort of cash."

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:20pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

Hafiz tells you that the note was digital. "Here, I'll let you see it." He forwards it to your comm. Very straight forward. Identifies the man, demands the money, gives an account number for Zurich Orbital, deadline 9am tomorrow.

Wolf examines the knife. Obsidian blade, leather wrapped handle. The first inclination isn't towards any of the NAN that he's encountered, but Aztecs.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:22 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]

As Kreskin begins to look around the room, he notices something on the bed. Tucked under one of the pillows is a small bundle in leather, with most of a feather sticking out.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:22 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Riot: PAN = passive | Fake SiN = Jim Smith

"Well, as messed up as the room is, it looks like a distract from the real objective, which was the kidnapping. These cigs might be a clue, might connect us to someone who knows the target. Also, if you can set up with a security level access to you systems, I can attempt a trace of the hacker, see if I can follow the nodes back to the source. If he's worth his salt, it won't yield much, but it could give us a ball park of their location."

[Monday, April 4th, 2072 | 4:22 pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Doc Opheliac | Pan = Passive | SIN = Ophelia Smokehaven

Having been quiet this whole time, Doc finally speaks up from the doorway where she is still examining the scene, and begins pacing a bit as she thinks out loud.

"As this is a ranch for corp execs, we have to assume that a corp is involved. The obsidian knife screams Aztec, and thus Aztecnology, but it's possibly just a red herring intended to lead us off the right trail. Though the man worked for Ares, we can't rule them out, either as a means of blackmailing Mr. Falcone for their own ends and putting an end to the ranch, or perhaps a different subsidiary. Likewise, this job may have been an extraction in and of itself and the blackmail, specifically picked at an amount that would be impossible to pay, set as another red herring. As it stands right now, the only evidence we have is quite possibly deliberately placed to throw us off the trail. Is there anything you can tell us?"

This last question is directed at Hafiz as she stops her pacing and looks to him for an answer.

[Saturday April 9th, 2072 | 4:22pm | Denver, Sioux Sector, The Horse Trot Ranch]
Kreskin | PAN = passive | Fake SIN = Cody Demasi

Kreskin points out the pouch to the group, snaps a picture with his commlink, and then picks the thing up to investigate further. When Riot gives his rundown, Kreskin adds, "I dunno. I had the opposite impression." Doc chimes in, and Kreskin lets her speak, while he looks in the pouch, but seems to basically agree with what she is saying. When she is done, he adds, "Besides, what would be the point in trying to distract from an abduction if they were going to turn around and ask for a ransom?"

Taking another look at the chaos of the room, he continues. "I'll have to watch the video to be sure, but I doubt all of this came from the struggle. They were probably looking for something - or wanted it to look like they were looking for something - in addition to our man." Turning to Hafiz, he asked, "Is there any audio on that security feed? I guess I can check myself. Could you get us a shot of what this room, and maybe that bathroom, looked like before the invasion?"