Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:07:15

Indeed, even as he turned the last corner, from a block away he saw the dwarf was already hopping down out of the driver's side of a bland brown minivan, expensive Italian leather shoes planting themselves on the asphalt in front of the convenience store. His trademark crimson tie was loosened slightly in the afternoon August heat.

As the face dismounted and took off his helmet, the FBI agent approached, hand outstretched. "Good to meet you in the flesh," he said.

Behind him and several meters away, Johnson noticed the human, whom he hadn't seen exit the van, leaning against it smoking his ubiquitous cigarette. He appeared to be torn between watching the conversation and staring at the faded lines of paint on the asphalt, as if he couldn't decide which was least boring.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:08:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Johnson sat his helmet on the seat of his bike, and then took the dwarf's offered hand, smiling. "I only wish it were under better circumstances." His smile faltered, intentionally. "I mean, what am I supposed to think? First you're tailing my friends while they enjoy a country-side joyride, then you start picking them up off the street, spooking away all my good talent, and now you've got the only three people green enough to talk to me under surveilance?"

He gave the dwarf one of those looks someone might give a child who was caught blatantly doing something he knew was wrong. "I don't walk into your office, and piss on your desk. Do I, Mr. Higgens? No." He shook his head.

"And yet, I think I've been a pretty good sport about all of this. I'd love you help you boys out of whatever shitstorm you've been assigned to, but my hands are tied - and rather than try to win me over, you keep coming up with reasons for me to despise you."

"So, tell me, what am I supposed to think?"

The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:08:08
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Giving Johnson a couple minutes to get outside and start up his bike Rocky then dug in to his pocket and pulled the much larger wad of nuyen that would be needed to cover his and Cerberus' bill for breakfeast. "I got this one. Lets get moving and make sure we go the opposite direction J did."

Rocky took one last long drink of his soycaf and then sliped out of the booth and made his way to the front door of the Waffle Iron, making sure not to look anyone in the or get anywhere close to making eye contact. Typing up a quick message as he went.

<<@Cerberus: You think one of the doctors that has helped you out would be interested in doing some simple plastic surgery?>>

The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:02
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Hidden (Robert Nevall)

Cerberus felt semi bloated as he stood up from the table. He knew his body was busy turning it into energy to fuel his massive muscles but he wouldnt be doing any headstands any time soon. He looked at the elf girl who seemed to have a bladder problem to see if she was coming with them but a negative shake of the head later and he was walking out the door behind Rocky.

<<@Cerberus: You think one of the doctors that has helped you out would be interested in doing some simple plastic surgery?>>

<<@Rocky: Dude have you looked in the mirror lately. I dont see how anyone could....haha just jerking your chain man. Well you met Doctor Cline. who put me back together back at that clinic, and to tell the truth you probably know as much about him as I do. It seems like im only ever going in or coming out of there all drugged up. If he can implant stuff like eyes and ears he probably has no problem just reshaping somebody's face. Thats the only doc who has worked on me. But seriously why would you want to, I dont think we have exposed ourselves that much in the past few days? Are you famous or something?>>

Cerberus climbed into the van. <<@Rocky: We could head over there and ask I guess? You probably wanna get that done asap? I can watch your back while your there. Hey what kind of plans did you have for housing?? How would you feel about shacking up together some place in the barrens? A place with some running water and maglocked steel doors. We would probably have to pay off a gang or maybe join them. Anyways thats what I plan on doing but if we went in together it would be cheaper for the both of us. >>

The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:58
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky kept quite as they walked out to the van, taking a quick look around to see if he saw anyone watching, not that he would actually pick them out if they were.

<<@Rocky: Dude have you looked in the mirror lately. I dont see how anyone could....haha just jerking your chain man. Well you met Doctor Cline. who put me back together back at that clinic, and to tell the truth you probably know as much about him as I do. It seems like im only ever going in or coming out of there all drugged up. If he can implant stuff like eyes and ears he probably has no problem just reshaping somebody's face. Thats the only doc who has worked on me. But seriously why would you want to, I dont think we have exposed ourselves that much in the past few days? Are you famous or something?>>

Climbing in to the van Rocky almost fell over as Cerberus asked his last question. He just figured everyone on the team knew who he was and had opted not to say anything. He opted to wait till the van doors were closed to answer even using the sub-vocal mic.

<<@Rocky: We could head over there and ask I guess? You probably wanna get that done asap? I can watch your back while your there. Hey what kind of plans did you have for housing?? How would you feel about shacking up together some place in the barrens? A place with some running water and maglocked steel doors. We would probably have to pay off a gang or maybe join them. Anyways thats what I plan on doing but if we went in together it would be cheaper for the both of us. >>

<<@Cerberus: Your kidding right? You not been watching professional boxing for the last 2 years? I'm or I was, Angus "Rocky" Smith professional boxer, and probably shortest term champion in a long time. But thats enough about me for now. Yeah it would be great if we could check into it. The sooner I know my options the better. >>

Rocky stopped for a second to catch his breath, realizing what he had just done. But if he was going to change his appearance at least a few people were going to know the truth.

<<@Cerberus: Sorry about that, just hadn't thought about my past in a while, been to busy with the present to worry about it. Thanks for the offer to watch my back, with the way things have been going that would be good. I'm up for sharing a place for a while till we figure whats going on and what we want to do with our new lives. But I may be short on cash if I get this work done before the next job, we'll have to wait and see.>>

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:08:40


For a moment, the dwarf looked slightly perplexed at the young human's tirade, but his smile never faded. "What are you supposed to think? Well," he said amicably, gently even, "how about this: How did you know we were watching?"

Lowell laughed.

The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:08:00
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

The watcher replied. Boss, I know I'm here and I know that you ought to be but you're not an dI don't see anything else and seeing is pretty much all I do and that's about what I've got right now.

Fortunato sighed deeply through his nose as the watcher prattled on in his brain then walked calmly past the counter, through the kitchen and into the alley behind the store. While many aspects of being a spy eluded him, pretending he was supposed to be somewhere had always come naturally. Other than a sweaty teenage cook eying him oddly, he went unnoticed.

In the alley he began to walk swiftly away from the site of the surveillance drone. He'd need to find a cab soon in order to vanish, but if his assumptions about his surroundings and who was watching whom were right, then he had some time and he could stroll and enjoy a hot August day where Seattle's perpetual gray clouds were still hanging in the air.

Anonymity was a wonderful thing. He'd need to try it more often.

Leaving Enumclaw Auburn, heading for Dr. Cline's
Friday 8/22/70 16:11:19
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN: Passive(Robert Nevall)

<<@Rocky: Wait...what was that news story I saw.....professional heavy weight boxer killed in the ring by doped up opponent..you were his opponent? Thats...thats none of my business I guess.>> Everybody makes mistakes I guess. I offed that dwarf at the coffin motel...and I plan on taking out a few other people atleast.. <<Sorry I'm into mixed martial arts mainly. I studied with boxing coaches as part of my training but I never watched those kind of fights...to unrealistic no offense, who stands there and lets another guy punch him in the face instead of taking him to the ground and breaking his arm or making him choke out from a submission but I do remember that story now.. Maybe we can train with each other sometime and teach each other stuff. Like how to destroy earth elementals with punches!!>>

"Ok I set the autnav for the doc's so just stay frosty and keep a lookout for tails. If you thought you might have surgery today you probably shouldnt have had that breakfast. Having food in your system can sometimes absorb the drugs they give you to keep you under while they work. So are you going to get anything radical done?"

Cerberus subscribed the vans rear feed to his glasses and watched for anything suspicious.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Johnson wasn't sure what Higgens was getting at, but he had a few ideas. Maybe they knew Angel found a picture of them - he doubted it. The idea had occured to him, on the way over, that the drone belonged to someone other than the FBI (maybe the people they hinted were after Cerberus and Sledge) - but his greeting when he arrived confirmed they were watching, somehow, so his point was still valid. He decided to dodge the question, for now, and get the conversation back where he wanted it.

Johnson's smile returned. "The same way you knew I was coming, and the same way I knew where to find you."

"Look, let's cut to the chase. You guys are on strike two, in my book, and I know I'm not your favorite guy, either. I'd be happy to call it a night, and part ways while we're still friends - but you two keep playing the Ex that won't make up her mind."

"You say you don't want me, but every time I turn around, there you are. You don't want me to be with anyone else, but you know it won't work out if we're together." Johnson grinned.

"So, what's the deal? You guys going to stalk me until I hook you up a friend, to get you off my back? Or were you just so excited to hear my offer that you couldn't wait a half-hour for me to call you?"

The team was under the impression that the deal was shot - that Johnson was coming over to tell these guys off, and that Sledge's caution was a deal-breaker, so Johnson felt like he didn't have anything to lose. He did have an idea that might salvage this whole thing, but if the Feds were willing to cut the strings, he might be willing to let it go. I was becoming inconvenient to have them around.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:30


Agent Higgins sighed. He walked a couple of meters over to a bench in front of the convenience store and sat down. There were faded markings where graffiti had been scrubbed off the plastic, but more determined vandals had carved various initials, proclamations of love, and obscenities into it. The dwarf's body language indicated Johnson should sit down, but he didn't wait.

Clapping his hands together once, as if to energize himself, he started talking.
"My point was, how can you get on your high horse about us watching you, when you are clearly watching us? C'mon boy. Piss on my desk? You brought a hacker into my office with you." His voice was calm, and he was even making an effort not to sound patronizing. "Do you see me having a conniption fit? No, I was almost impressed. We don't know you. I just met you. I don't really care about you. I want to talk to the ork woman, offer her a job. You may be in the right place at the right time, by your association with her, to catch a big break. I was also happy to wait the hour you asked. It was you that had to come charging over here, like the kid that tattled to the teacher that another kid's eyes were open when your own were supposed to be closed. And to do what? Scold me? Next time you spot some surveillance, take my advice and keep your cards a little closer to your chest."

He massaged his temples. "I am getting way too old for this. Listen, you've still got some time left on the hour you asked for. Do yourself a favor. Have you got any idea what kind of trouble some of the people you are with are in, and how shoddy their covers are? We can help with that, if you will calm down and stop playing 'us against the world.' You want to make friends, kid, not enemies."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:35
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

As the dwarf was talking, Johnson casually made his way to the bench. When he was done, it took effort not to get up, again, and wash his hands of the whole mess. Despite remaining where he was, his mood had soured, considerably. He didn't regret asking Angel to watch over him, but it did lend the dwarf a good point. A point he was currently using to jab Johnson in the Face, repeatedly.

"Alright, so maybe I peed a little." He winked. "I have trouble holding it in, when somebody upsets me. If your explanation hadn't been so damned convincing, ...."

Johnson's words were interrupted by an annoyed whine from the usually impassive human. "Shit, now that's just one more damned thing I gotta do."
He threw his butt down onto the asphalt in exasperation and then disappeared into the van.

The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:30
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree - Passive

Caittie sat there in the booth, watching the male members of the team go their separate routes. As she sat there continuing to eat the leftover food on her plate, the girl thought about the drone and Johnson’s last suggestion. ‘I know what he wants me to do’, she said to in her mind, ‘but how exactly should I go about it?’
By the time she had gotten tired pecking at the now cold waffle bits; the young technomancer had formulated some sort of makeshift plan. It was simple in its structure, but call in a lot of favors from her sprites. Still, it was the best she could think up on the spot and easily adaptable for the numerous unknown factors that might await the redhead.

Steeling herself for the task ahead, Caittie arose from the table calling out names into the Resonance. One by one, they were answered as she made her way back to the restrooms once again. A few seconds later she was occupying what was an empty stall, though not using it for the purpose it was intended for except to have some privacy. One long deep breath later, Angel was diving into the full VR streams of the Matrix.
Seconds past as she prepped herself; compiling a sprite on the spot to assist, telling each sprite what they would be doing and strengthening the current complex forms she would need on hand. Then, the digital angel went hunting; hunting for holes in the security system that protected the unknown drone to be precise. This part would probably be the most dangerous action she could do in the digital stream, though this time it was both fast and uneventful. She easily found her way into the system, avoiding any protocols that might trip an alarm.

Setting out a sprite to the task of decrypting the node, the cyber angel scanned the node for any other presence. What she found was almost a barebones system with only one other user logged in. Reading the commcode, she matched it up to what might be Agent Higgins’ partner.
It was only a second later that the sprite had broken the encryption and the girl could see the activites of the drone. A laser mic was sighted in on the now empty booth the group had been sitting at, while a camera lense was trained on the pair of trolls, tracking them out of the diner and into the van. Sighing, Angel sent out a quick message to Johnson, saying “We guessed right. It’s them.�

She wondered what she should do next. There were a few options that popped into her head, some better than others. On one hand she could just leave it alone, but the agents were following the group. On the other hand she could destroy the drone, but these were federal agents and she really had nothing against them. She couldn’t take control of the drone for the very same reason too. She could edit the data but that only worked while she concentrated on it.
With a small mischievous smile, the girl figured the best thing might be to have it return to the agents. It wouldn’t cause any damage, it would stop it from snooping, albeit temporarily, and she wouldn’t have really done anything wrong besides the hacking in part; which really couldn’t be undone now anyways even if she wanted.
Figuring that the other person might stop her command, she told the sprite to do its best to make sure the drone completed the command. With that, Caittie sent the command and dropped out of VR, no longer really needing the super speed it gave her on the digital plane. Though, she still stayed in the node in AR, just to watch what was going on.
With that, Caittie opened the stall door and started to leave the restroom, figuring that there was no real point in staying in the diner any longer.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:45
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Johnson only briefly glanced at the message from Angel in AR before returning his attention to Higgens. His mood seemed slightly better.

The dwarf had made some good points about the team's covers being soft, and Johnson wanting friends, but strategically, he would lose whatever leverage he might have if he conceded that he needed the Fed's help. So, Johnson decided to do what he always did when he was in over his head. He decided to push his luck. It was time to fall back on his original plan, and play hardball.

"Maybe I think we're caught in the middle of something we want no part of. Maybe I see a difference between watching you while you're on-the-job, trying to make sure you stay away from us, and you watching us while we eat dinner and talk privately."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:58


The older dwarf looked as though he honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing. For the first time, his tone became caustic. "What, you are part-time fugitives? Forgive me, I guess I just didn't hear you declare a time-out." He caught himself, looking chagrined at his loss of self-control.
Deep breath.
"Look, if I thought you actually believed that drivel, I'd leave you sitting here, find the woman myself, and predicate our deal on her not working with you. But I don't believe you're that dumb. You've shown some poor judgment, but we all start somewhere. You've done one good piece of work that I know of, and I've had a firsthand look at some raw but promising talent. But then, all this will become academic within the next thirty minutes or so if you don't let me know you've got the woman in your corner by then, because it will be time for me to start lining up my first back-up, which will be the end of our joyful relationship. So look, we're both still talking, we obviously both want to find a way for this to work, so if there is any further assurance of my bona fides you feel you need, tell me and I really will see what I can do."
Just as the dwarf wrapped up his offer, a tiny airplane dropped from the sky and skidded to an extremely short landing on the blacktop of the parking lot, coming to a stop directly in front of the two negotiators. Higgins gave it a surprised glance, but quickly returned his gaze to Johnson, leaving the drone an unmentioned elephant in the parlor.

Walking toward the "meet," Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:09:58


Walking toward Johnson's location, Angel was relieved to see in AR that the drone had executed its command without a hitch. She was, in fact, surprised that the FBI agents had not attempted to interfere in any way, and the last thing Locke showed her before derezzing was a camera view of Johnson and the dwarf sitting on a bench talking.

She was deciding what to do next, when she realized that there was someone - not an AR someone - walking along quietly beside her. Momentarily dropping the augmented reality, she looked over and saw the human FBI guy, sauntering along lazily. He looked so real that she almost failed to notice that his feet were a few inches off the ground.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen him do this - project his astral form for the world to see.

Just like someone else had.

He spoke: "You're a little young to be hijacking FBI drones, miss."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:10:40
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

"Part time? I wish." Johnson found the dwarf's comment about a time-out particularly amusing. If only he could call time out. "As far as I can tell, we're unemployed. You don't want to offer us a job, but you won't back off so we can find another one."

"Nobody wants to work with people who have FBI drones following them around. Least of all, ork women."

"You're right, though. I would like to make this work. If I thought the next 30 minutes would make a difference, and land me this gig, I would take them - but I don't. If I thought that my team would show up in person if we got it, I would tell you it was a deal - but I don't. If I thought you would believe me, I would tell you that the ork you're looking for was dead, so you could stop bothering me and move on - but I don't."

"So, I am at an impasse."

"That's not to say that I'm taking the deal off of the table, just yet. We both have a plan B, but I think we'd still both rather see this deal work out, if we can. I don't think its a lost cause, just yet."

"There is one way that I think everyone can still get what they want out of this, and relatively quickly, but its going to require something that none of us have demonstrated very much of, so far. Trust."

Johnson raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if Higgens was interested in hearing what he had to offer, or if he was prepared to let the deal go.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:10:50


"Son, my partner and I offered to meet your whole team, just the two of us, at the time and place of your choosing. You will not ever see greater unilateral trust in this business. You just won't. On top of that, I gave you my real name, and even met you at my legitimate place of employment. At that point, you saw twice the one-sided trust you ever will in this town. Like I said, the moment I know the ork woman is on the job, the job is yours. But my plan B is to go to one of my usual crews. So whatever your idea is, let's hear it. I'm game for anything - how did you describe yourself? - reasonable."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:11:50
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

"I'm glad to hear that." Johnson was genuinely pleased - not just because Higgens was willing to hear him out, but also because of the way he put the bit about Sledge. "First of all, I'm going to have to trust that, once we've come to some arrangement, you and your partner will disappear. My team is not against the idea of working for you, but, overall, they were quite clear about not wanting to meet you, or have you spying on them. That means as long as your eyes are on us, we're paralyzed - and that doesn't help you out at all. Subsequently, you're going to need to trust us to get the job done, and you're going to need to trust me to utilize the best assets at my disposal. You say that the ork is mission-critical, and if that's the case, I need you to trust me to pass along the important information and put her in charge - because I can assure you that she won't show, for you to tell her, in person."

"Bear with me." Johnson could tell that all this talk of people not showing wasn't helping sell his case. He decided to cut to the chase. "From what you told me earlier, the reason you want to meet everyone, is that you intend to pay us in favors - and you want to be able to vouch for the people you're granting favors for, right?"

"So, since they're all a little shy, here's my compromise...." Johnson paused for dramatic effect. "You hire me - just me - to find you a team, and secure the ork as lead on this 'mission'. You pay me in favors, the same six favors you were planning to promise out to everyone else. I'll negotiate payment with any assets that I need to call upon, paying them out of my own pocket. And, we agree that if I want to give one of my favors to somebody else on the team, they've got to come meet you, in person, and answer any questions you feel are necessary to give you confidence in their character. I don't really expect that to happen, though."

"Its not ideal, for either of us - but we both get what we want. Your mission gets done, by the ork you want to do it, and it doesn't cost you anything that you hadn't already planned on spending. My team keeps what little privacy they have, stay employed, and even get their choice of cash or agreeing to your terms. I get to stay in the middle, making sure everything goes smoothly and, hopefully, keep my hands relatively clean. All it requires, is that you and I trust one another not to fuck each other over - and I am certainly willing to do that, if you are."

"So, is that acceptable? If not, we're done talking, and you're welcome to call up your usual team."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:12:20

Higgins listened carefully to the face's pitch. It was clear he was weighing his options. After about ten seconds he said, "I can meet you more than halfway on that. If you get the job, we'll keep our distance. And your terms on the payment of - what was it? - six favors? That'll work for me. But I can't just trust you to get the woman on board. She doesn't have to meet with me if she's not inclined. But I need some surety that she's on board. Now, you say that won't happen without more info on the job. But I can't tell you what the job is without knowing you've got the job. But here's what I'll do: I'm willing to gamble a text message - for her eyes only - through you to her. If you'll deliver it, maybe she'll bite. If she does, you've got the job. If not, well, we can probably all go our separate ways. What do you say?"

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:12:40
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

"That sounds more than fair." Johnson offered his hand to the dwarf. "If you've got something convincing to say to her, that you can't say to me, I don't mind playing currier, if it lands us the job. It better be good, though."

Walking toward the "meet," Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:10:37
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree - Passive

Fully understanding who the ethereal man beside her was, at least enough to comprehend the statement the human had said, Caittie couldn’t help but look a little sheepish. She’d have been lying to herself if she tried to convince her psyche that she wasn’t at least a little nervous as well, looking at the obvious mage floating along beside her. Not knowing exactly what to say or do in the situation, she reverted to a truly honest, “Sorry…�

Looking down towards the ground for a second, she watched the pavement move below her as her stride resumed its normal pace from the quick stutter step a second ago. Raising her sight back up to look towards Lowell once more, she gave an apologetic smile as she continued, “I mean… I know it might not mean much, but I only sent it back to you. It landed right near your partner. I didn’t even know it was yours until I was in, but I guess none of this really excuses it, huh?�
The technomancer was having a hard time thinking up what exactly to say to the man, not knowing exactly what was going to happen. All she knew was there was a line and she was, at this moment, on the wrong side of it with no real defense to her name.

Walking toward the "meet," Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:10:50

The FBI mage did not seem angry at all. He smiled warmly.
"Listen, you're a talented kid, Miss Natome, that's plain to see. And better than that, you're alive, which makes my day a little less shitty. Seems to me, from what I've been able to put together, that you've had a rough few days. That you survived at all is a miracle, so I'm not passing judgment on how you did it. But now that things may have calmed down a bit, seems like maybe you have a chance to reevaluate some things. By which I mean, you have fallen in with some rather unsavory characters. Now far be it from me to tell someone how to live their life, but a girl of your talents has a lot more to look forward to than Matrix chores for a crew of street mercs."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:13:10

The dwarf was pleased indeed by Johnson's answer, and he let it show on his face. "Great, give me just two seconds."
And that was how long it took. Opening his eyes from a moment's concentration, he looked at the human and transferred a data packet to his PAN.
"Tell her the password for the message is her real name - don't worry, she already knows I already know it."
Then the dwarf watched Johnson expectantly. It was clear from his body language that he wanted the message sent now.

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:13:20
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

"... give me two seconds," Johnson mumbled as he fired the message off.

<<@Sledge:: "Busy day. Password is your real name. I'd love to hear your thoughts.">>

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 16:13:22
Sledge - Holding Pattern
PAN - Hidden

Screeeeeeechhhh! HOOOOOONNNKKKKKK

She didn't even notice.

<<Recovery job. Package is buried under a collapsed building, one that was being erected by a very big company. If you want the job, call me NOW, and NO ONE else.>>

It took a few microseconds to bring up the public access data, re spoof her access codes, then she made the connection.

<<@Higgins:: Magnu Jrikjrik kukra. I'm in.>>

Behind Sledge a pair of irate motorists blared their horns in protest to the rapidly departing form of Sledge on her Harley reproduction bike.

Leaving Enumclaw Auburn, heading for Dr. Cline's
Friday 8/22/70 16:11:53
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky did what he could to keep an eye out the back of the van looking for signs of anyone following them as they made the trek to the doc's.

"Not realy sure what I'm going to do, just need to make enough changes that I will not be easy to pick out of a crowd. As for the food, I'm not going to get anything done till I know I'm not needed for the night. Plus this way we can find out if Cline is willing to help me out, what it will run and how long it will put me out of work."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:13:27

It was scarcely a second after Johnson sent his message that the dwarf smiled with satisfaction. "Figured that'd do the trick," he said, mostly to himself. Turning to the much younger human, he said, "Looks like we are on for this deal. The woman spoofed her commcode, so you'll have to call her back yourself, along with whoever else shows up to get down to brass tacks. The more the better - I find it saves a helluva lot of call backs and late questions and clarifications if the players are at the briefing. Now, the longer you wait, the harder this gets. So you just name the time, and make it darned quick. If you've got a place, we'll come to you. If not, I'll give you an address."

Outside the 24Heaven, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:15:50
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Johnson looked impressed. Whatever was in that message must have been pretty good to get such a fast response. In all honesty, though, finding out it was that easy was a little disappointing. Aside from having Sledge's current contact information, Johnson wasn't sure his contribution to the situation amounted to much more than a lot of unnecessary stalling, and positioning himself for immediate bankruptcy. He was gambling with his mother's life, for sure, but that wasn't all that different from what he had been doing for the last couple of months. At least, if his hunch was right, an FBI favor might go a little farther than a briefcase full of cash. "No time like the present, I guess."

His real motivation for an immediate meet, was that he had made after-dinner plans with Deerwalker, in around two hours, so Johnson figured if he got the run-down, now, he might still be able to meet that. He doubted Higgens (or even Sledge now that she was interested) would appreciate waiting until tomorrow, and, although Deerwalker would probably understand if something came up, he had hoped to get this favor done for Fortunato sooner, rather than later, so he could work on a different request tomorrow.

"Let me pass along the invite. See who's willing to show up." Johnson began typing into the air. "Might as well party at your place. Mine is kinda small, and everyone else just got evicted." He took the address information from Higgens, and appended it to his message - noticing that it was a reasonable distance away. Then shook hands again, stood up, and went to his bike.

<<@Team:: Sledge had a change of heart, so we're back on. Anyone up for a meet-n-greet with the Feds, meet us at this location, as soon as you can. RSVP, so we know when to start. Anyone still shy, but who still wants in on the work, can work it out with me, afterwards, and stay off their radar.">>

On the road, once he was a little ways away from the 24Heaven, he fired off another message from his personal commlink. <<@Deerwalker:: "Hey there. Minor work-related complication this afternoon. Can we meet at 8, instead, and assume I'll be fashionably late. Sorry. Call if that doesn't work for you.">>

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 16:16:30
Sledge - Holding Pattern
PAN - Hidden

Taking the direct route made the start of the drive more relaxing.

<<@Team:: ETA 25 Minutes.>>

AR imagery and mapping for a standard dig flashed for her attention, and Sledge was about to input some of the standard parameters, when the simple fact of having a green crew reminded her exactly where she was.

She pulled over to make sure she set it up right, not that it would matter much to her personally if she didn't make it to dinner, but there was a reason for following the standard steps, other then tradition. Reputation and trust didn't work on their own. There were consequences, some more immediate then others, some direct, some indirect. As Cody might find out, as some dumb stars had, as these federal agents would find out. There was always payback.

As long as someone knew about the betrayal.

It would be an inconvenience to be without her agent monitoring constantly, but that was a risk she would take. Sledge double checked her instructions to the agent software, loaded it up with the tools it needed to hide, and set it off into the nearest public node to begin it's tour.

Insurance set up, she gunned the engine and surged back into the traffic flow. She had about 30 seconds to make up.

Walking toward the "meet," Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 16:12:03
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree - Passive

“Yeah, if things go right, I’ll have something better than this right now, after I’m through ‘helping’ you guys out. We’re of the same mind about me working with these people, I never thought in a million years that I would, but after talking and getting to know them… A couple sound like good people who just had a hard turn in life and are trying to cope, sort of like me. The way they can just up and do some things though... it’s disturbing, but I can… relate…�, the elf girl replied back to the floating mage, slowly wrapping her arms around herself while turning her gaze away as her speech slowed to a slight pause. Images started flashing in her head of the ‘some things’ she had done, making her uneasy, both in mind and stomach.
With a quick shake of her head, she tried to clear it of the ghosts, turning her head back to Lowell. “Anyways�, Caittie started back up with her almost her normal tone, “The major reasons I’m doing this is because of you and your partner. Even before hearing about the ‘Favors’, I figured whatever you need done couldn’t be ‘wrong’ or at least had public safety in mind.�
“I mean, you’re the good guys, TRUE law enforcement�, the red haired female said with a serious but good natured look to the mage, but it soured along with the tone of her voice just after as she continued, “not like Star…" With a glance to Lowell, she finished with a serious question to the ethereal mage, slowing her walking pace slightly, "I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Weeeell, not everyone in the Bureau's a straight arrow, and not every single one of the hired thugs at the Star's crooked. But by and large, yeah, we run a pretty tight ship. If that punk Rothstein'd let us help him like we offered, good chance some of your friends'd be alive right now, and you wouldn't be on the streets.", Lowell replied, his astral form shrugged. It was amazing to Caittie how high-rez, if that was a proper word for something magical, his image was compared to what Alex's had been like.
"Anyway, if you got your heart set on helping the people that helped you, well, that's a reason I can respect, I really can. And for our part, we'll be happy they've got a talent like you on board. After that, I hope you'll get yourself out of this biz, but that'll be on you. And that's why I wanted to talk to you without your people around."

They were approaching where Caittie knew Johnson was, and the mage stopped, facing her straight on - his form just sunk right down into the ground so he could look talk to her at eye level.
"Thing is, useful or not, under normal circumstances I see a nice little girl like you caught up in this kind of mess, well, I'd make some calls and get her some backing, get her into a good school or something. We're not hardly a welfare state anymore, and most of the time I'm thankful for that, but there's still help for those who know how to pull the strings, especially with a valid SIN. But instead of helping you like that, I'm never going to talk to you again after this.", the mage continued, the tone of his voice calling the teenager to pay attention.
"You see, I got a big, powerful organization that backs me up. But, that also means I got a big, powerful bureaucracy keeping close track of everything I do. Now, whatever that was I saw in my drone, it wasn't any sort of agent I've ever dreamt of.", he mused to a slight pause before continuing. "The KE white hat a few nights ago had the same idea, and only heaven knows who he's reported to. And that makes you something new and special - but I don't need to tell you that."

"What I do need to tell you, if you haven't already figured it out, is you got to hide it. My people are the good guys, but in a best case scenario even they would want to lock you up and register you."
After a breath, he continued with a slight bite of distaste, "Registration. It's a fucking death sentence... let's the bounty hunters track you."
"Every double-A and up with a biotech or computer interest, which is all of them, are offering top cred for the likes of you. They catch you and you'll only have about five minutes to convince them you're more useful functional, than brainprobed and vivisected. Things might ease up down the road, but right now, you have got to stay low and off of everyone's radar." With a tone of finality and scincerity, the mage finished the conversation, "And that's all I got to say. You take care, kid."
And with that he faded out of her perception, leaving the young technomancer with a lot of things to think about and even more questions floating about in her head...

Somewhere between Merideth, Renton and Enumclw, Auburn.
Friday 8/22/70 16:16:42
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN: Passive(Robert Nevall)

Cerberus flipped open his commlink and looked at the location on his mapsoft in comparison to where he and Rocky currently were. Using his AR glove he reprogrammed the van towards the new location and read the estimated time to arrival at the bottom. Raising his hand to the subvocal mic still attached to his thick neck hee replied back to Johnson and Sledge << Yeah, thats about our ETA too. >>

"Hmm I am curious as hell as to why those Feds want Sledge so bad. Whatever we are going to be doing it sounds like we will finally be doing some proper shadowrunning shit, i cant wait! Compared to having a mob guy trying to kill us this next job should be easy as hell don'tch think? I wonder how much money we are going to get paid! We will probably each be able to buy a mansion and retire. You can get some bad ass facial reconstruction and I can get some wiz bioware. We will be able to drown ourselves in hot ass prostitutes who look like Angel only a little older and more shapely if you know what I mean! We are going to be set for life bro!"

Cerberus pulled his predator from the duffle full of weapons and stuffed it down the front of his pants. Now that he had a shirt on again nobody should be able to see it to easily unless they patted him down. As his hand connected with the gun it told him it was fully loaded and a little window with the gun camera's view winked into existance off to the side of his field of vision but it all went away when he released the grip. Cerberus nodded to Rocky who was looking at him, "But just in case this meet doesnt go as planned..."

Residential area just east of University Village shopping center, U-District
Friday 8/22/70 16:46:07

Sledge was the first to arrive at the address, her hog rattling through the sllence of of the quiet, tree-lined street. It was just out of walking distance of the university, so there weren't many kids around. The houses were a mix of nice upper-middle class places and quaint fixer-uppers. The former probably housed a lot of professors; the latter had little tell-tales like beater cars, Concrete Dreams stickers in windows, and little planters full of herbs arranged on paint-chipped front porches, all of which screamed poor grad student.

The address in question was probably the most bland on the block, falling somewhere between the two extremes, and with little to give it character. It had one storey on a raised cement foundation that hinted at a basement, and an attached garage.

With no one around, and unsure what to do, she waited, trying not to stick out like too sore a thumb.

Fortunately, Johnson had pulled up on his bike just a couple of minutes later. He'd gotten a message in route that included the access codes for the garage door opener, and instructions to get the vehicles out of sight and to enter the house through the garage. Apparently there were also beverages in the fridge.

By the time the bikes had been stowed, Angel had shown up on foot, explaining she'd gotten a cab to a few blocks away. The ork smiled - kid was learning. The Love Machine arrived shortly thereafter, filling the garage.

The interior was cold, the furnishing functional and limited to the front room. The curtains were all closed. Two bedrooms were completely empty. The facilities were functional. There were beers and colas in the kitchen. The door to the basement was locked.

Friday 8/22/70 17:09:00

Special Agents Higgins and Lowell of the UCAS Federal Bureau of Investigation had arrived about five minutes later. They'd ditched the minivan and pulled up in a slick Eurocar Glide four-door - there were three other similar models parked around the neighborhood. It said tenure.

The dwarf stopped in the center of the front room, looking around him at the five assembled shadowrunners. The only one he hadn't already "met" was the elf girl, but he didn't seem surprised by her presence.

The human agent wasted no time dispelling any doubts whether smoking was allowed in the house. He didn't look at anyone, just studied the walls, or dug with the toe of his shoe at the carpet.

"Well," Higgins began, "Five. Pretty good. More than I had hoped. Good for you, good for us." The expressions of the runners did not invite small talk, so he said, "We can talk downstairs. I'm afraid it's a wifi dead zone, so you'd best cut any outside connections you're maintaining now. And we'll be passing through a hefty ward, so I'd deactivate any focii."

The basement door clicked open as he approached it. The inside of the door showed that it was a lot sturdier than it had looked from upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs was another door. Once they were all inside, with both doors closed, the world went silent in Angel's head, and she instinctively reached out to the PANs of her companions, like a drowning man for air. It wasn't much, but it would help keep her on an even keel.

There was a table, and chairs, some sized for larger metas. The basement was cold. Higgins looked at a heating unit on the wall and it beeped to life, but it would be a few chilly minutes before anyone felt comfortable. At this point, Cerberus activated the recording units in his eyes and ears.

Higgins sat at the end of table, Lowell over in a corner. He might have been napping...if people could smoke in their sleep.

"All right, glad to have you here. What I have agreed to with your representative here is that you all will do a job for me. A very off-the-books job that can never be associated with me or my organization in any way. But it's a clean job. A job I expect no one to have any ethical objections to."

The sleep-smoker snickered.

"In exchange, you will receive Y20,000 nuyen up front, and upon successful completion, each person here will receive one substantial favor from me, with the exception of your representative, who will receive two, presumably one for himself and one for a sixth, silent member of your team. Now, when I say substantial, I mean that. Collectible now or later. But keep in mind that I am no djinni, nor, especially, am I a bank. But I do have significant connections throughout the Metroplex and indeed all branches of the UCAS government, not to mention strong contacts with a number of foreign agencies. I have access to meaningful non-cash resources. You do this thing for us, and I will do whatever I can, within reasonable limits, to honor your various requests. Now, if everyone is good with these terms in principle, I will proceed to outline the job."

He waited, but got no response.

"Okay then, here we go. At four a.m. on the second of July this year, the partially completed Hirotomo Building, the centerpiece of a redevelopment project on First Hill, was completely destroyed in an act of sabotage. Now, at the time of the explosion, the basements had already been excavated, though some sections that were not structurally critical had not yet been cemented over. We believe the structure was collapsed to hide evidence buried under the sub-basement. Specifically, we believe there are three bodies buried down there."

He paused to let that sink in. "Your job will primarily be to recover all three bodies, in their entirety. Doing that will include securing the headware memory in one of the bodies. And before making delivery to us, you will be required to review the data on the headware, in order to ascertain that there are indeed numerous audio-video files, and that they have not been tampered with or booby-trapped."

From his pocket he produced a small device, which he laid on the table. "As with most cyber, the ware in the deceased shut down with the termination of their bioelectric field. This is a modified 'trode rig that will not only give you a hard-line access to the ware, but also power it up and simulate a DNI command for it to boot up. I'll need it back when you deliver the three bodies and your report on the state of the memory."

He took a swig from his cola. "Now that you know the job, let me explain the main complication. Immediately after the sabotage, the REIT backing the redevelopment brought in Yakashima Construction to finish the job, promised that the much larger company could get the building up on time despite the huge setback. Work went on around the clock, and now, a month and a half later, it is done. In fact, all the wiring and finishing work, along with all necessary inspections, were completed four days ago. Tenants' leases start on Monday, at which point they will immediately start moving in. That makes this weekend the window for you. Granted, if you decide to wait until the building turns into a hive of activity next week, with thousands of people busily moving in and starting twenty-four hour operations, well, I could see how that might be a tempting amount of camouflage. But I strongly advise you to go in this weekend, when there is no one around. And the simple reason is that at this time, security is minimal. There is simply nothing there to protect. No inventories, no work stations, no people, no data. As far as management is concerned, there is nothing to make the building a target. So for now, there is only remotely operated passive security, and one guard for the whole place. And of course the little fact that the neighborhood is thick with Lone Star mercs. Come twelve-oh-one Monday morning, the sec teams come in and set up shop, and by start of business day they'll have the place wrapped up tight in the physical, digital, and mystical arenas. And the neighborhood will still be thick with Blue Crew thugs."

He leaned back in his chair. "So there you go. We will be OUT of the picture from this afternoon." He slides a rubber-banded bundle of certified credsticks next to the 'trode jigabob. "There are four certified Y5,000 accounts there, and each one has the number for you to call when you are ready to make delivery of the three bodies and your report on the state of the headware memory. I have just a little time to answer any questions, or to consult with individuals about the possible limitations on their "favor" requests. That can be private if you want."

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:00

The greenish troll had declined to sit, and now he was the first to speak up.

He unfolded his arms and stepped forward, "I have some questions.. Can you tell us who these corpses are affiliated with? Are they FBI, government employee's, a particular corporation? Also who do you think killed them? We need to know who we might be running up against in this mission, who might blame us for killing them if we are caught, who might try to stop us from finding out this information you need. A collapsed, blown up building can be pretty devestating to the things inside or underneath of it, what if the corpses are to destroyed to recover intact? Do you want us to try and destroy any remnants that we are unable to excavate? What about this security corporation that will be taking over the building, when was the last time you saw their time table and do you know the project manager or guy in charge's name? Can you shadow him and give us live updates or give us his name so we can? We dont need to get caught with our hand in the cookie jar..One final question..when you guys picked me up earlier you eluded to someone else looking for me. Care to shed any light on that and let me know, after all I'd like this job to go smooth and easy."

Cerberus couldnt think of any other questions so he stepped back and folded his arms again. He thought about what kind of favors he would want from these guys and there were only a few things he could really go for, improving some of his cyber and getting his old bike back or atleast a replacement/ small upgrade. Cerberus typed a small text message up on his commlink and beamed it over to Higgins before he responded to all of Cerberus's questions.

<<'Sup Bro? Theres only a couple of things I would really like to see underneath my christmas tree. I have standard aluminum bone lacing and wired reflexes 2. If you could get me some more essense friendly aluminum bone lacing or even some titanium essense friendly implants, or maybe more essense friendly wires 2 or maybe some wiz synaptic boosters 2+ that are essense friendly that would be awesome. It would also be greatly appreciated if you got my bike out of impound or got me a stock Harley-Scorpion that is modded for trolls. I mainly just want one of those cyber upgrades, the bike would make me love you long time though, and hooking me up with all that shit or some delta grade shit would make me indebted to the two of you beyond this mission...>>


The dwarf waited patiently for the troll to finish speaking. Once he was sure the barrage of questions had run its course, he started talking:

"Who the deceased were is classified. Who we think killed them would be speculation. Your job is to recover as much of them as possible. If that proves physically impossible, we'll want photographic documentation. No need to destroy any unrecoverable remains. The security contract is with Knight Errant, now and after the weekend. Just different levels of protection being paid for. We haven't seen their timetable and we don't know the name of the project manager. We will not shadow anyone or communicate with you in any way between right now and when you call to make delivery. If we were willing to expose ourselves on this thing, we wouldn't be hiring you." He paused to take a breath. "Did I get everything? Oh, the people we were alluding to earlier were those Lone Star punks. They had a hard-on for you since you got away from KE the other night, wanted to show who was better. But earlier today when we thought this deal might become a reality, Lowell went in and purged all the imagery Knight's boys sent them on you."

Cerberus listened to the responses Higgins gave not only for details he had asked for but also for any hint that these guys might be hiding something. There was something off about these two like they were always in on some little joke.

And even while Higgins was still speaking, the troll received a message:
<<The deal is for one favor, not three. But the bike is chump change - send us the details of where it is and where you want it, and we'll take care of that right away for being such a sport earlier. As for the cyber, IF you complete the job to our total satisfaction, you choose ONE -
Aluminum at Beta
OR
Titanium at Alpha
OR
Titanium at Beta - u o us one job, no questions asked
OR
Wires 2 at Alpha
OR
Wires 2 at Beta - u o us one job, no questions asked
OR
Synaptic Boosters 2 - we own u until we feel like u're paid up
All surgery etc. included for all options.>>

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:00
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - (robert Nevall) hidden

Cerberus was like a giant dark green chiselled statue, and then a hand went up to his chin and started rubbing it rythmically with his thumb as he seemed to be looking straight ahead at nobody in particular with a giant grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He didnt care if the whole rest of the team bailed on this one, he was going to recover those bodies.

His other hand that was hiding in his armpit started typing up his text message to the rest of the team, << Yo, I am in!" >>

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:20

Cerberus was not the only troll texting the agents as the briefing continued:

<<Text@Higgins:: Any chance you could get me cleared on what ever charges are hanging over me? If not then I'll need to think on it for a while. How do we collect on these "Favors"? >>

And just as with Cerberus the answer came back immediately, while Higgins was still talking:

<<Anticipated this request. Japanese government too ticked off to take the charges totally off the books. But we can have DSS give Lone Star and other corp players a hands-off notice, and then DSS can quietly stop pursuing the matter. As long as you never force their hand by resurfacing publicly, you won't have to keep looking over your shoulder on that issue, and they'll drop the surveillance on your family as well. Once you complete the job, let us know if this is what you want for your favor.>>

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:30
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

She'd been wired up the whole time, and there was no way she was turning the off. It made her a bit twitchy. Her legs had been bouncing in superfast rhythm while she had forced herself to sit in the chair. It was only polite, and wouldn't probably make much difference if she had to act. And it certainly would make no difference if the feds acted.

... july 2nd...

Sledge's legs stopped bouncing and she focused her glare on the halfer, then switched it to the softee smoking away in the background, then switched it back again.

... they know it's 3 bodies!...

She could feel her body heat rising, the flush spreading, and she squeezed the arm of the chair firmly in her grip, all the while glaring between the two agents, keeping her mouth shut over the desperately escaping snarls and howls, tusks clenched shut.

.. oh Andy! what have you done...

The faces of the agents blurred in a watery haze.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:45
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson eyed the pile of credsticks and wires, thinking briefly about finances before resigning to the fact that he had no idea what equipment they would need to pull this one off. He couldn't think of a lot of ways to get into a sealed-off basement that wouldn't make a lot of noise. Cerberus had a lot of questions, which filled the otherwise awkward silence as he suspected the rest of the team was in private communications with the FBI. Johnson danced his fingers around mid-air and fired up a quick message to Sledge, joining the invisible whirlwind of radio waves flying around the basement.

<<@Sledge:: So, what's your take on this? I dunno what they told you to make you change your mind, and its fine if it stays that way, but I'm looking to you to take lead on this one, since the word is you're mission-critical. Just let me know how I can help you.>>

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:11:50
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

She blinked, the incoming message gaining her attention, the clarity in sharp contrast to the sight in front of her. Inadvertently her head turned and she looked at the young man asking her questions.

<<@Sugar Lips:: Worked building with old crew. Know place, maybe know the 3 buried.>>

Sledge turned her head back and focused on the short watery blob in front of her.

Blinking didn't help clear it up.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:13:00

Caittie sat in a chair, listening to the off and on conversations, silent and unassuming or at least trying to be. She figured the breaks in the vocal communication were either people trying to sort their mind or, more likely, chatter on the digital realm. Hell, she would be foolish to bet against the last one as she could 'see' the streams of data going from one device to another, though seeing it and understanding it were two entirely different things.
This concentration on the talk and the few streams of data were probably the only things keeping her from going insane here in the wifi dead zone... or at least thats what the technomancer thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, red braid swinging with the effort. 'Come on, girl! Keep it together and work!', she yelled at herself in her own head to psych up.

The elven lass flicked her gaze to the dull-looking mage, lazily smoking in slow drags by a corner of the room, but lingered not but a second as she then focused in on the talkative of the pair. "Agent Higgins...", she started with a little apprehension, but quickly broke through to be more professional sounding, "is there a statute of limitations on these favors?" With nary a pause, she continued, "I'd hate to perform this work, though helpful it might be to the FBI, and find out that when I try and call in the favor that I'm just past it's experation." The green eyed teenager wore a slight smile as her tone held more of a hint of humor near the end of the last line.

The dwarf answered simply - "As long as Lowell or I are alive and on the job, your favor's good."

After a pause, she fired off another question at the agent, "Also, what would be the, um..." She thoughts stuttered for a second, trying to think of the proper word, but quickly picked the sentance back up, "average expected return from these favors? I mean, you could have us asking anything, from expensive things to, say... new lives to live. What would be the the most you could do for us without getting yourself in trouble?"

"That's a good question, but a hard one to answer. Which is why we clarified the terms up front before meeting. Problem is, the different sorts of things we can do for you, some you can put a price tag on, some you can't. And those price tags can have radically different values on the free market. Suppose you want help with a hard-to-get piece of tech. If it's not something the government handles, we may not be able to do much but introduce you to people. If it is something some agency we have contacts in has access to, we may be able to get it for you. Now that has a price. It might be a high price on the market, but it could be virtually free to us. On the other hand, you talk about a new life to live...No way to put a money value on a lifetime in the witness protection program, but that's something we could do."

Johnson's attention shifted to Higgens briefly when he responded to Angel's question. That was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to hear, and he had to make a conscious effort to keep his excitement under wraps. There was no point in tipping his hand, yet. Until they had the data and bodies, in the back of their murder-mobile, he didn't have his favor. Instead, he turned his thoughts to Fortunato, and how he was going to negotiate payment with him, for this mission. His excitement faded quickly.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:15:00

Cerberus regained his focus midway into Angel's questions and got his mind back on the job. Why the hell wasnt anyone asking questions? Did they already know everything they needed to know? He sure as hell didnt have experience digging up dead bodies. All the ones he had seen were usually fresh kills or in the process of dying. He grimaced at the thought of having to dig around and bust through concrete and most likely get blisters on his hands but he looked forward to putting his muscles to use. Then a thought occurred to him... "What if these bodies are not there? Can your information be wrong? What do these individuals even look like? Can you at least give us their biometric data? Race, hair color, ethnicity, weight..."

"We appreciate your attention to detail. Of course we can't be 100% certain the bodies are there, but we have strong reason to believe they are. They are probably close together, all in the same spot. And probably a short distance below the deepest point of excavation of the pre-explosion sub-basement. If we didn't think they were there, we wouldn't be going through all this. Now if, say, you come back to us and you claim that you absolutely can't find any bodies, then you need to have covered your tracks - cleaned up any mess so it doesn't look like you were ever there. At that point, payment will be on hold. Eventually, we will get in there through more legitimate means. If indeed there were no bodies, you get paid. If they were there, you don't. Oh, and on that point, if you do get the bodies, and review and confirm the status of the memory, then the priority is getting out with the goods. At that point, we really won't care if you clean up your mess. Now, as for your other questions, we really doubt there are any other sets of three dead bodies buried down there, so there is no point in going into identifiers. Classified anyway."

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:16:00

The answers to Cerberus' latest barrage of questions left the room in a momentary silence, which was fine with Johnson, whose thoughts were whirling in a thousand directions at once.

He appreciated the agents' candor, and could even see why they wanted to meet everyone up front, but, personally, it was causing him a good amount of discomfort. It wasn't that he didn't want the rest of the team to know what resources they had at their disposal - and he certainly had no claim on any of the spoils of this mission, himself, but he had the uncomfortable feeling that Agent Higgens was unintentionally setting the bar quite high for his team, and by extension, for him. A week ago, he was able to toss them ten-grand to murder a powerful mob-boss - a job that would have been suicide if he wasn't secretly backed by someone who could clean up the mess. Today, for a little grave-robbery, they were being offered something potentially more valuable - at least, Johnson was counting on that potential. Something told him that after Rocky got his makeover at a posh government delta-clinic, he wouldn't be nearly as interested in committing whatever crimes Franco asked of them, for 10-large. He just wouldn't be as desperate - none of them would.

Johnson felt cold for a moment.

Was that it? Had he been counting on their desperation? Johnson didn't like the thought of that, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. That was really the only reason their initial mission got off the ground, in the first place, and the only reason he was able to keep them all together, after that. It didn't matter that he threw a little extra money their way whenever he could, because it wasn't helping their situation any. After spending the week hiding out in a shitty motel eating vending-machine food, they would have probably jumped at any job "Johnson" managed to miraculously find - which is to say, whatever job his boss told him they had to do. Now, that was no longer the case. If Franco did get a hold of him this weekend, Johnson doubted he could offer anything that would make the team bail on this mission - and if their favors went far enough to give them new lives....

It sounded like Angel wanted a new life, at least. Rocky probably still wanted that plastic surgery. He had no idea what Cerberus wanted, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with regaining some semblance of his former life, or leaving the rest of it behind. If they all got what they wanted, would they still want to commit crimes for money? Probably not. Why would they want to gamble away their second-chances? He might still have Sledge and Fortunato on board. They weren't as new to this. Maybe they were in too deep. Johnson certainly was.

It occurred to him, that even if he got the favor he had in mind, he wasn't out. He was on the hook to deliver, whether he needed the money, or not - and half of his team was probably going to lose interest in working for him, soon. The half that Franco had gone out of his way to secure. This wasn't one of his part-time jobs that he could just walk away from when he lost interest, or when the ship was sinking. This was bad. This was really bad. He had been so focused on the opportunity to do something significant for his parents that he hadn't realized what it might cost him, professionally. He took a sip of his cola, and realized he had completely zoned out there, for a second. Everyone else seemed ready to go. He was ready too.

Higgins must have sensed as much, and dismissed the runners with a concluding order. "Don't kill any civilians. It's wrong. And don't kill anyone in a uniform. It's a pain in the ass."

The front two legs of Lowell's chair hit the floor with a crack, and somehow everyone knew that was the signal to leave.

As the others got up to leave, Cerberus just stood their staring and Higgins and Lowell. Johnson was one of the first to walk by and saw him standing there and asked "Are you coming?" Cerberus continued his stare down with the agents, which wasnt hard thanks to his cybereyes, but replied to Johnson, "Yeah I will be up in a second."

One thing was crystal clear to Johnson. He wanted the mission to succeed. In fact, he hoped that it meant that everyone else got what they needed to live a better life, because that would mean his own favor might come through without complications. Whatever the fallout was with Franco, Adam would somehow find a way to come out on top. That was what he did. He was reminded of how he got his job working for Franco, in the first place. If Adam Lear had a signature move, that was it - tossing himself into danger to bail out someone else, catching a lucky break, and walking away relatively unharmed. He supposed his luck only had to fail him once, though. The trick was not to think about things too much, and to just roll with the punches - so as he climbed the stairs, that's exactly what he resolved to do.

Once everyone had vacated the basement or atleast was out of earshot Cerberus dropped his arms to his sides ready to follow the others but said what he had to say to the agents first, "I dont ever wanna hear another slight against my ethics or anyone else's I'm rolling with, crystal? Its not conducive to this relationship." Cerberus stood there a second longer challenging either agent to make another comment and then bounded off up the stairs and towards the others ducking his head down where the room connected with the stairs.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:00

Once the team was all up the stairs, the two agents followed, securing the doors behind them.

They crossed the front room, clearly headed for their ride. Lowell went out first, and at the door Higgins turned and told the runners not to worry about locking up, but that they needed to be gone within an hour.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:17
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

When Agent Higgens mentioned being allowed to stay for an hour, Johnson turned towards Sledge to see what she thought. "I gotta split in the next hour or two, anyway." He realized that might sound like he wasn't committed to the team objective. "I made an appointment to look into some gear, for us, that I'd like to keep. Until then, I'm up for a planning session, and after then, my schedule is free again." He glanced over and saw that Higgens hadn't waited around to eavesdrop on his conversation. "If we're going to touch bases with anyone else, we should probably leave."

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:20
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

She didn't even hook her thumb at the door, or give any other sign. Sledge just stalked out the door and headed for her bike without looking behind.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:26
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Hidden(Robert Nevall)

Cerberus turned towards Johnson expectantly, "Whats the plan boss? Where we gonna meet up and have our little pow wow? I have shit to do tonight also. I don't think it should be done here..."

Cerberus was full of energy, there was the thrill of a new job, the "thrill" of not having a place to go home to, the thrill of possably getting a wiz piece of bio, and he had YET to be able to find the time to get his ass online and download some of those killer games he had seen. He unconsciencely began pounding one big fist into the palm of his other hand like he usually did before a fight just to feel the slight impact. He wanted to goto Club Rain for the meet like they had first done but he didnt dare mention that place in here wheres the Feds might here it, not to mention that would involve a short drive in the stupid van and money he didnt have.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:37
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson had hoped that Sledge would have something to say, or give a clue as to what they should do. Instead, she just kept walking for the door. Johnson exchanged glances with the rest of the team, and then shrugged after Cerberus's question. "Sledge knows more about this than any of us. I'm going to follow her lead, on this one." He gestured towards the door. "Let's head out, and see if she has a plan." It occurred to him, as he headed into the garage, that Sledge might not have any interest in leadership.

While putting on his helmet, he gestured to invite Angel along. "Up for some fresh air? or planning to take the tank?"

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:58
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree – Passive

The redhead had a lot on her mind as she just followed the group upstairs and into the garage. She followed not out of conscious effort but had reverted to an unconscious ‘follow the leader’ mindset as her psyche was flooded both with matrix information, as she connected to random nodes, but also with thoughts and questions of the accepted job… and her future. That favor had a lot of options… open ended and probably double-edged options that left her in a nexus of directions she didn’t have but a few minutes ago.
She was lost in this daze of thought until the man she was following slowed to a stop, conversing with someone else. He then turned to face her, asking “Up for some fresh air… or planning to take the tank?"
Blinking a bit as her eyes focused on Johnson, Caittie’s mind took a second to register the question. A quick glance at the van, which the trolls were bound to be riding in, and the sleek sports bike ruled out the former easily. Then the green eyed girl saw a more important option farther bag, in the same direction as the only other female on the team was going. “Um… Thanks but I’ll be fine. Excuse me.�, Caittie replied as she walked between Johnson and Cerberus.

Picking up the pace to catch up a bit, the teenager eyed the Harley which the ork rode around on. It was bigger than Johnson’s bike by a fair bit, but she figured it wouldn’t ride too much differently. Seeing Sledge make it to her bike, Caittie called over to her, “Sledge, wait up! Can I get a ride, please?�

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:17:60
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

Sledge paused in mid motion of swinging her leg over her hog, then set it down. After a very brief pause she reached down and unclipped the passenger pegs, flipped up the mini back rest on the seat, and reached into the saddle bag and pulled out an extra face scarf and half helmet rig. She propped the scarf and helmet atop the back rest, and got on, kicking back the kick stand from it's locked position.

After taking a deep breath and blinking rapidly to clear her eyes the ork woman looked back to check.

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:18:00
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

With his helmet on, Johnson started the engine, but waited for Sledge to head out first. While Angel was getting on her bike, he fired off a message to Cerberus. <<@Cerberus:: "Did you get a copy of that meet you could pass me?">>

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:18:03
Cerberus - walking camera man
PAN - Passive(Robert Nevall)

As Johnsons shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the house following Sledge and Angel, Cerberus shook his head and let out a long sigh. Why did the one with the least amount of communication skills get to be the leader. The key to good team work was good communication and Sledge was anything but easy to understand or forth coming. Cerberus liked organization and discipline, thats how he trained, thats how he faught. Choose a goal, work towards it, achieve or fail. Not this blunder the fuck around and wait for people to tell you what to do. He had already started making a list of things he thought they might need. Body bags, a refridgerated truck, pick axes and shovels, uniforms, a mad scanner. They could probably be in and out by tonight if they didnt drag ass.

Cerberus headed for the door to the garage and whipped out his commlink and turned it back on and set it to passive and then popped the doors. As he climbed into the back he couldnt help but think about how good it would feel to get his bike back and riding on two wheels with the wind in your face and using your own body to balance the bike, it felt alot better than being in the back of some damn van, it didnt help that everyone else except Rocky and him had bikes too.

<<@Cerberus:: "Did you get a copy of that meet you could pass me?">>

Oh yeah! He had recorded the meet. Opening his datajack up to wifi he used his AR glove to attach them to a message and beamed them over to Johnson.
<<@Johnson: "Yeah here you go." >> *plink* went Cerberus's commlink to let him know the files had been transferred. With another mental command his datajack was safe again from would be hackers. After he instructed the van's pilot to follow Sledge's hog he flipped it closed and stuffed it back into his pocket. Using his AR glove he began to search the matrix for nodes relating to online games. Since he didnt know how freaking long this trip would take or where the hell they were going he might as well occupy his mind with something else so his brain wouldnt get friend thinking of all the questions that seemed to pop up when he thought about what they had to do.