"Most people call me AM, short for Amy Maka."

"Robert Crow. But you can call me Bobby. We arrived only recently in the Denver area - had to leave Seattle pretty urgently. Since we are new here, we investigated a bit who is the most well regarded for the jobs that we are most suited for.
Your and the name of your band came up. So here we are."
Bobby looked at Mato if he wanted to introduce himself.

Mato still isn't sure about the line of inquiry. Getting closer to Susan is not the same as getting closer to the Cats. The fact that the Cats aren't recruiting doesn't surprise him. People who help manage a crew may also manage other crews as well. Mato felt like they were getting added to Susan's stable.

"Dirk Magnum," he says, using his fake UCAS SIN. He still thinks the situation could go sideways and doesn't want to leave a trail behind. Of course that horse might have already left he barn since AM and Bobby are using real names, or at least parts of real names.

<<What's our angle?>> he asks the others. <<Are we tacking into he wind here? How does this get us where we want to go?>>

>> No idea... I want to talk to these cats see if there is any wiggle room or at least give us closure if it is already a done deal. We might also make a bit of extra coin on the way.

<<I'm aiming for any form of contact with the Cats. Even an image of one of them could be used for a spirit search - provided they leave the warded area.>>


Bobby continued:

"So I understand, you are in the market to manage another band. What are the rates and conditions we are talking about - or should we come back some other time to talk about that in a more private setting.

Also, if you are interested, please contact the cats and let them know about us. Nothing's more embarrassing then meeting in the field and working at cross purposes. That's how accidents happen. If I've learned anything on this job, it's communicating clearly within your team at all times or risk loosing it all."

Tamarind was glad that Mato was streaming visuals and sound through his cyberware rather than carrying a drone, even if direct feeds were always a bit disorienting -- this woman sounded like she might have spotted the drone and had questions. She seemed very in her element in this role, observant, careful, in control.

It was only when the bar owner mentioned that she had the opposite of a problem with the male gender, and Tamarind felt a tiny stab of disappointment, that she realized she'd been quickly developing a bit of a crush on the woman. Stop that, you! she admonished herself. You are far too old for crushes, it isn't professional, and besides which you know you'd never do anything about it and just drive yourself to depression obsessing about it. Plus for now she is the opposition.

To distract herself, she sent made sure that her delivery drones were keeping up an overwatch pattern, so that she'd be warned of vehicles that might be coming to the bar. It didn't seem out of the question that the bar owner would contact the cats, who might run their own surveillance. More likely to send spirits or project astrally, give their talents, but she observed what she could. After a moment she thought to scanning for running silent devices, too.

"Surely you know how this works. There are no rates or conditions, or anything like that. It's not like we are making a contract here. I'm the middle-person. It all depends on the jobs and the clients, and every one is different."

Susan leans on the bar as she continues.

"But let's put that aside for a moment. Clearly, you seem pretty obsessed with the Black Cats. You constantly try to direct the conversation into their direction. I am not new at this, I know how this works. So, why aren't you straight with me. What is it about them that interests you so much?"

Bobby looked puzzled: "You don't take a fixed percentage for your service? How does that work? Are you getting paid directly by the clients?
I wouldn't say that I'm obsessed with the Black Cats. I told you that we asked around about them and they were described as pretty formidable. I'd like to talk to them and see what's fact and what's fiction about them."

"We're new to town, not to the game," Mato chimes in.

"As Mr. Crow said, we are recently out of Seattle, which has its own culture and its own way of doing things. Out of respect for local customs, we're trying to get the lay of the land here.

"The Black Cats have a good reputation, and our recipe closely mirrors theirs." He considers his black matte cyberhands. "Not entirely - we have some tricks up our sleeves - but they're a good model. If they can be successful then so can we.

"So that's our angle. Imitation, the sincerest form of flattery."

"Funny you guys are so impressed by them... I mean they got mojo I'll give them that, but they are weak on the trix... kind of why I thought there is room for us."

"As I said. Tricks up our sleeves."

Mato gives a sly smile over the tricks/trix double meaning.

"Exactly!" she says with a smirck.

Susan replies to Bobby: "Of course, I take a cut. But not out of your pocket. That is for the client to cover."

She listens to what you have to say about the Black Cats and finally lets out a small sight.

"Alright. You seem decent enough, and I have a feeling that you might be worth my time. I cannot really promise anything, but I shot them a quick message. Maybe, if one of them can spare some time, she'll come over."

In the meantime, Tamarind is watching everything closely through her drones. At some point another truck pulls into the parking lot, and an amerindian couple heads over to the bar. Just some regular patrons as it seems. They greet Susan upon entering before looking for a free table.

Scanning for hidden icons, she can actually make out three within the bar. There is one right at the counter, and two more at a table in the far back corner, where two guys are sitting with some drinks and talking.

Bobby sent a quick message to AM
<<That's our chance - can you tag her device quickly and find the device she is contacting? I'll distract her.>>

"I'm looking forward to it. While we are at it, I've got some more questions." He paused to let Susan send her message
"We had to leave most of our gear in Seattle - any good places to restock on hardware and magical stuff around here?"

Tamarind sends to the team >>A couple just came into the bar, completely non-suspicious seeming Sioux man and woman. But the timing would line up with Black Cats being nearby and coming to check out what all of this is about, so I'm suspicious no matter how they look. Could one of you check them out in the astral? Make sure I'm not being fooled by a Mask spell or whatever? Also, at the back of the bar there are a couple of silent running icons, from what video Mateo has shared I think it is those two guys sitting at a table. Might not mean anything, but letting you all know.<<

AM frowns slightly at the request, she has her share of manipulation but she is uncertain if she wants to flex her trix muscles just yet. She excuses herself for a moment to the restrooms and begin working her trix magic. She is waiting for a burner link to come online so that she hacks it as Susan makes her call and perhaps identify the target device. Her attention is entirely focused on Susan's vicinity.

AM cannot find anything other than the hidden icon that Tamarind also noticed.

It does not really surprise her that much, though, as Susan said she "shot them a quick message", which likely means that it was already done before she mentioned it.

Bobby turned discretely around and glanced toward the newcomers, checking them out on the astral, before turning his attention back to Susan

There is nothing alarming about the two entering the bar. Just some normal people, not awakened, no cyberware.

Susan explains, that she will try to get them a job pretty soon, but points out that it might take a week or two before that happens. It's not like shadow jobs come in on a daily basis, and it also needs to be something fitting to try out a new team. Then she excuses herself as she also has other customers. She promises to let you know if there is a reply, or her message was enough to get one of the Cats come in.

Bobby nodded: "Thanks, here is our number, call us if something comes up."

To the team he sent: <<I'm afraid AM has to hack her device a bit more thoroughly, so we can hit on the location of the cats.>>

Bobby finished his drink and nodded indicating for the others that he was ready to go.

>> Lets see if the Cats arrive... we can follow them. AM looks at Mato... "you any good with pool?"

"I am good!" Mato admits. "I have a feathery touch and a discerning eye. I've heard of folks who have smartlink-enabled cues. If I had that I could calculate some fancy trajectories with my math SPU. Like a sniper, but for snooker."

<<But if we're going to hustle someone, it really should be at darts>> he adds privately via comms. <<I am the Robin Hood of darts.>>

He stands and goes to look for an open table. If all are occupied, perhaps there will be a chalkboard that serves as a waitlist.

<<Tam, we're going to hole up for a while and wait. Do you want to come in or are you happy out there?>>

If there's a menu, he looks to order snacks like peanuts or popcorn.

AM says plainly without a hint of apology "I was pretty bad in my old body... in this one, I am not sure I have the finesse." and then adds but you can show me... unless of course you want to play darts.

"Sure, let's give it a try."

Bobby replied, online he said:

<<Am I to understand from this, that you are not going to try and hack her commlink?
We are losing time here - if they are guarding their prisoner, it could be quite a while until one of them shows up here. I know hacking has its risks, but we are opening ourselves up to getting traced and background checked ourselves. Seattle is big, but we are pretty distinctive. Give them an hour or two through their own connections, and they'll know exactly who we are and what we are about.>>

<<Who is to say that he's still a prisoner or that the Cats still have him? There was never any ransom demand. I still think a corporate extraction is a plausible explanation, which means that he could have been handed over already. For all we know, Belenkiy could already be hard at work for his new overlords.>>

<<And I'm not particularly worried about being traced. Either they find out that we're good at what we do, or, if they find something to take offense, what are they going to do? Start a fight?>> Mato's expression suggests this would be a solution, not a problem.

<<Worst case: they vanish and don't get in contact at all. If Belenky is gone, he's gone. But our chances to get him are going down if we don't move fast.
We have one last chance with that message - and we are frankly not taking it.>>

Bobby replied

she texts back:
What do you want to find on the link because a high end link of an alert user is a difficult target to hack cleanly. I will do it if you prefer but I wouldn't have called them from my personal link and a hacker already poked here and found nothing. I will do it from the van if you if you insist but we are risking a meeting.

Bobby replied <<We need to know to which device she sent the message.
If we have the device we can track it. So a look into her sent message folder should be enough. If you want, I can drop some reagents and give you some extra insight to the limitations of your gear, so the operation will go safer.>>

"No rest for the wicked" She says apologetically, and sighs. To keep the appearances in the meat world. >> Fine... I'll be in the van working on it. You are free to do what you can to help. She places back the pool and heads to the car where she is comfortable enough to hot-sim like she loves to do.

Tamarind keeps watch over AM, ready to jack her out if needed, and generally just fussing while her team mate is unconscious.

After her own experience of coming out of VR in a jail cell, after going into it in a hotel, she is just not very comfortable with VR, and seeing anyone else like this, even more helpless than when asleep, is stressful. Even with her drones and herself on high alert, she can't get past the feeling that something could happen to AM's body that she wouldn't be able to stop.

She positions her Flying Eyes to watch out the windows, and she cycles between their cameras and checking the matrix for signals running silently. She'd briefly thought about offering to provide some matrix support, maybe giving that touch of extra insight that could help everything go smoothly, but then decided she'd be better employed making sure that AM is safe, and so letting the elf focus on the hack.

Mato loses his pool partner to the call of duty.

He goes over to the dart boards and finds one that's unoccupied. He pulls the darts out of the board and takes a few steps back to the proper range. He tosses the darts accurately but casually [buying 4 hits], not trying to do anything too flashy. Maybe, if he's feeling quirky, he might throw the darts so that they land in a smiley face pattern.

He'll play a few rounds, mostly just to pass the time. If anyone approaches, he'll talk. If not, he'll keep to himself.

If nothing transpires, he'll see what sort of menu - if any - is available. He looks for jalapeño poppers, but will also be happy with potato skins or a loaded quesadilla.

Bobby kept himself busy maintaining his spell as well as keeping an eye open for trouble. They were kicking a hornets' nest here and he was under no illusion how this would likely end for all involved.

While AM is busy looking at Banshee's commlink in the Matrix, Tamarind keeps a close eye on here, and Bobby also stays vigilant, in case anything happens.

With the help of his magic, AM is able to break through the firewall and mark their target. She quickly looks around for the message log. It has last been accessed and modified very recently, probably when the message was sent earlier. AM just wants to open it to take a look at the last entry, but then her instincts stop her. She does take a closer look and there it is... a data bomb. Of course. Why wouldn't there be some layers of protection. This is a fixer's commlink, surely Susan does not want anyone snooping around there and get information about her contacts and calls. That ancient terminal in the back of the bar might have her fooled, but this is a different beast. This one is top-notch.

In the meantime, Mato picks up a few darts and throws them at the target. Casually, but still quite accurately. "Not bad! Looks like you have done this before."
The voice belongs to an orkish woman in a coverall with the Apex Plasmids logo. Probably came here right after her shift with a bunch of her co-workers, who sit at a nearby table, two humans and another ork, all male, all sioux, including the woman. They watch and Mato cannot help but notice the grin on their faces.

Mato gives a sly smile.

"I see your friends grinning," he tells the ork woman. "I presume that means I am about to be hustled. What's the local flavor? Loser has to order Rocky Mountain oysters?"

How is it that things happen so fast in the matrix, but that watching over someone who is in the matrix seems so slow? I know, it is my anxiety about what could happen to her in there combined with not knowing how it is going. But waiting like this is stressful!

To nobody in particular she says out loud "Once AM is done, we are going back in there and I'm getting a drink." (apparently forgetting how just yesterday she vowed no more drinks on this job for fear of falling back into the habit)

"ofcourse she has a bomb in place..." AM murmers to her place. She settles to disable the bomb and baypass the password by altering the instructions in her program, seeking for the password check and flipping a single instruction from BEQ to BNE, but that requires her to understand a program which was
written to be misleading. Yet, she has bobby's spell and her augmented intellect are on her side... her mind scans the software with sophisticated pattern matching algorithms until she is ready to commit to the modification. Heart pounding she waits to see if the Jhonson explodes... or if she can finally read her texts. Either way it is going to be interesting.

Carefully trying to remove the nasty surprise from the file, AM hold her breath for a tense second. She can feel her heart beating, as she finalizes her tinkering.

And then... nothing happens. Letting out a sigh of relief, the elf can see the data bomb vanish into the void. After taking a deep breath, she looks at the file again, ready to finally claim her reward.

But something is in her way still. The file cannot be read, or copied. It's protected.

The last layer of protection does not pose a huge problem for AM, and a moment later, she can actually access the call log.

There is not a whole lot in there. Definitely less than one would expect from a phone that is likely used regularily. The log must be purged regularily.

But AM is only here for the most recent number, and it is still in there.

It was a small victory, but she needed to be consistent. "Time for the decryption algorithms... she pushes the deck to the maximum overclocking it increasing its power consumption and revoking the gurantee while running the decryption software."

The ork grins at Mato.

"Nah! Just a couple beers. We are here to have some harmless fun after a long day. You look like you can afford that. And you do look like you know what you are doing, so who knows. Alright. How is it? Wanna throw some darts? Show us what you got? Loser pays for the next round for the winner's table. Fair?"

"I have the number! " she says Do you want to trace it right away? or keep it as backup? Call it perhaps?"

Bobby perked up and smiled a very small smile.

<<Perfect. For now just a matrix search to find the device, identify what model they use first. While my spell still works, you should have no trouble getting a MARK and putting a trace on the device. Let's just hope they are still at their hideout. But if the device is on the move, we at least can infer the relative location of the hideout. Should give us another chance with a tracking power from one of your watchers.>>

Mato smirks.

"Yeah, I can afford that." He holds up a cyberhand. "I'd be a pretty sad sack if I could afford a bunch of chrome but not a few beers, neh?

"What's the local game? 301, 501, Around the Clock, Killer?" These are all popular versions.

Most games have the players taking alternate turns, throwing three darts each turn. On his turn, Mato throws his three. He absolutely drills the first shot, makes an excellent second shot, but the third shot is not quite as good.

"Ah, let's keep it simple. 301 single-out. Also... I'm Cassy!"

Looking at the cyber up close, she ponders for a moment, probably thinking about what it might be like to have one of those.

"I guess those give you a bit of an edge, too." Then she grins a little. "That should make it fair."

The guys in the background give a silly thumbs-up, they do like challenges.

She hands over the darts. "Let's see what you got!"

Mato's first throw goes really well, which prompts some cheers from those watching. The accuracy drops off a bit, but the darts still hit good spots (at least for a bar game).

Cassy's opening is really strong. She gets ahead quite a bit. It was to be expected, that she knows what she is doing. And she does not disappoint. More loud cheering, naturally.

After Mato's next throw, Cassy continues strong, but not quite as good as her first three darts, which were pretty perfect. She still reaches zero with her sixth dart.

"Lets see what we have..." AM attempts to locate the number and identify the kind of link it is.
(She buys 5 hits)

AM manages to spot the icon and can identify it belonging to a Hermes Ikon commlink (Device Rating 5).

"Hi Cassy, I'm Dirk," Mato says, giving the name from his fake UCAS SIN that he's been using since they got into Denver.

Mato is duly impressed. Perhaps the unexpected pressure gets to him, because he flubs his fourth throw. He winces a little bit, then recovers admirably with his fifth and six throws. But it's too late; Cassy's lead is too large to overcome.

"To the victor goes the liquor," he says, conceding the match. "What will it be?"

When Mato almost botches that fourth dart, Cassy goes: "Ooohhhh, that one went wild."

Even though, his next two are very good again, Mato, despite his souped-up agility, cannot manage to catch up with Cassy's lead anymore and she brings the game home with well-trained routine.

After everything is said and done, her friends cheer some more, and Cassy offers "Dirk" a strong handshake.

"You are really good. If not for that one dart, you could have easily won this. Impressive skills! Good thing you did not embarrass me in front of my buds. Wouldn't hear the end of it," she says grinning.

In the background Susan has been watching the game as well, probably more out of professional curiosity, though. Hopefully, it also kept her distracted from whatever AM was doing to her device in the meantime.

Despite losing, Mato absolutely feels the patrons' appreciation overall. It was a very close game, and he certainly did have a very good shot at winning here.

"Yo, Susan! One round of our regular plus one on the tab of my new friend here."

Getting back to "Dirk", Cassy offers with a glance to the bar and the entrance: "Wanna join us? Looks like your guys have abandoned you, anyways..."

In the meantime, Susan brings five bottles of beer to the table, three Orkstaff’s XXX Hurlg and two not-quite-so-strong ones for the humans.

Mato considers the offer, somewhat tempted.

"Have they?" he asks of his bailing friends.

"If they're gone, then it probably means that I'm the one that's late. Pleasure meeting you, Cassy, but I better be catch up. Drink my Orkstaff for me, neh? But drink it slowly because if they're just outside smoking death sticks then I'll be back shortly."

He shoots ¥50 to Susan to cover the round then heads outside to see if the Gopher is still there or if he needs to run to catch up.

Seeing the Gopher still there, he climbs into the cab.

"Eh, I lost. What's our destination?"

Bobby replied: "Still waiting for AM to trace the link.
How did you lose at darts? Aren't you cybered up so hot, that you can circumcise a fly with your throwing blades?"