While Nanashi had been attempting to show off for the otaku, he had inadvertently forgotten about a minor detail...such as the rest of the patrons of the tea house. As he had their attention, it was up to him to dispel the crowd. "No, it doesn't hurt. I can stay like this for a couple hours. Umm...I'd like to give you a detailed explanation but, I really do need to have a word with my companion here...perhaps later." he said as politely as possible. When he managed to get the crowd dispersed he added to the otaku, "I do apologize for that...'it seemed like a good idea at the time' doesn't seem to even begin to cover it..."

Donovan comes into the tea house with his 'instrument' and sits down. He smiles at the otaku and gives a friendly nod as he does.

So.. these are the ones who are going to help us?

Eventually the crowd disperses with several glances back at Nanashi and with the parting of attention, the otaku seem to relax again. The woman in the center speaks directly to Trixie.

"Please bring your team to the table so that we can meet them. Obviously you are traveling with a mage of some kind."

Trixie nods, "They are coming."

Jester limps over to the table and stand behind Trixie.

Trixie motions towards Jester, "This is Jester, our Rigger."

Calisto takes her drink and moves around the edge of the crowd gathered for the Awakened peep show and stands near Trixie's right side. She gives a simple nod and her name as a way of introduction.

Jack tips his hat back as he blinks real-world eyes open again, brows arching as he looks at the crowd gathered 'round Nanashi.

He nods to the Otaku, saying simply "Jack."

"Hi," Jester says.

Damn kids, they have no idea how dangerous this is. One grenade, or a rocket, some c-4 and we would all be putty.

Begrudgingly, Donovan crosses the room and introduces himself. With the final introductions made, the woman looks over each member of the group. She purses her lips when her gaze reaches Calisto but says nothing.

"Very well then, let us go."

With that the three otaku all stand up, that jerking uncomfortable nature still evident in their movements.

"Which way to your vehicle? Or did you come here on the train?"

Trixie blinks. "I take it that means you are willing to help?"

Jack seems a little surprised by the sudden acquiesance as well, but recovers quickly and takes his feet.

"You have pled your case well enough for my needs, and while we may not care for your company, such things must be done given the times. We have heard of our brethren and must not allow this to go unpunished.

"That being said, I do not like having to do this, but can find no other choice. If you are meant to do this, than you will make the dive, if not, then you shall come back an empty husk. Now, please, let us leave this place."

Following the taller of the two boys, the three otaku begin heading out of the tea house.

Trixie looks up at Jester and slips an arm into his. "You'll keep an eye on me, right?"

She gives him a smile, something almost like a daughter smiling at a father. She'd defenantly taken a liking to the old Rigger, seeing that she ment something to him as well.

Calisto follows the group, speeding up her stride she draws parallel to the strange Otaku woman. Pitching her voice so it doesn't carry far, she tries to engage her in conversation in Japanese. "My apologies if I have given you offense, you seem displease by my presence at the table? Is there some way I can make amends for the distress I seemed to have caused you?"

Calisto:
"You have given no direct offense. What you are and do is your own affair, but I sense much danger in you and violence."

Team:
The otaku give you directions and Jester is soon driving along the outskirts of Tokyo, well beyond the sprawling metroplexes and arcologies. Arriving in a squalid suburb reminescent of the Redmond barrens, you setup a place to sit and wait in the lee of an abandoned house that doesn't look exceptionally stable.

And Trixie goes off with the Otaku to take the dive...

Settling himself down, Jack pulls out the satellite dish and goes through a similar set of preparations to what he did back in the apartment.

Jack:
Logging into the crystal clarity of the Angel ComSat, you quickly drop down from satellite grid into the traditional land-bound systems. Jumping around the globe in a matter of minutes, you sidestep security protocols and erase tracks as you go, increasing the trace time back to the Sat Grid immensely. Despite the fact that you can't be traced back to your meat and given Trixie's run in with the All-Father laying a trap, you take every precaution.

Slicing cleanly through the security at the Renraku host, you weave past automated bots and idle IC.

Jester nods to the young girl. "Not to worry trix, you'll be fine." He sees her off with the Otaku before returning to the van to run security checks.

'Hey Call you want to walk the perimeter? I'll do some fly bys with the 'bat."

Though he would have liked to go with Jack on a second round with Renraku, he let the other decker have his fun. Hopefully his trip would be more fruitful than the last. Meanwhile, Nanashi did an astral scan of the area. He had heard bits and pieces about the Otaku, and had learned a bit from working with Trixie. Now he was at what was apparently their place of initiation. He wondered just what was going to happen. Well, he'd just have to wait and ask...assuming otaku were allowed to tell what went on during their 'dive'.

Calisto gives one last look to the strange "deckers" before heading out to patrol the area. "On it."

Donovan stands up and follows Callisto outside in a hurried manner with his instrument case in hand.

"Mind if I come with you? I can help."

Calisto pauses, allowing the mage to catch up. "The more the merrier and you can keep an eye out for any magical problems." They head out and begin to walk the perimeter of the area.

Outside:
Walking under the sodium lights of the passed over neighborhood, small shreds of life pull at your peripheral vision but manage to stay clear and not attract unwanted attention. An eerie silence falls over the buildings as life on the street realizes that several bigger fish have just arrived in the pond.

Coming down the eastern perimeter, you spot two thugs on the corner chatting amongst themselves. The elf stands tall and well-muscled, next to a snake-eyed changeling who bares fangs at Donovan.

"Buying or selling," the elf calls out.

Jack:
The data is fairly easy to track down and you quickly write the documents necessary, utilizing a copy that you downloaded and edited. Once you slide it back into the system, you log back off.

Glancing around the small encampment through the tinted windows of the van, it would appears that most of the team has dispersed to individual tasks. Jester is leaned back with the RC unit in his hands and Nanashi is walking along the edge of the small area cleared of litter and debris.

You shrug and log back in.

Nanashi:
Scanning the area you pick up threads of loss and despair with an undercurrent which leaves a unique taste in your mouth. The entire area has an almost reverent nature ascribed to it in the minds of those who live here effecting the fabric of astral space, but it's different from the sense of worship you are used to near churches and temples.

Half-formed spirits dwell in the gaps and thresholds between domains without the energy or will to become, trapped waiting for time to slowly leak away their potential until they simply cease to be.

Donovan smiles at the elf and says, "Buying maybe. What have you got?"

Calisto raises an eyebrow at her walking companions sudden interest in illicit trade. Taking a moment to look over the situation, she waits to see what unfolds.

Jack:
The system welcomes you, immediately pulling up a list of recently accessed files and queries you to find what information it can most readily access.

You grab the files and are gone, erasing all traces of the account before nayone ever noticed that it was created.

Jester:
Sensors register several heat signatures in the vicinity along with trace amounts of phosphorous, sulfur and carbon. You're fairly sure there are armed men nearby. None should be a substantial threat to the van or its occupants but alone on the street they could pose a problem.

Donovan:
"I've got a whole list of things for the man of distinction which you are. Show me some hard currency and we'll see if we can do a little business, hard or soft--Pill, puffer, and chip, I've got it all."

Resisting the urge to holler as he grabs the data, Jack wipes his trail and resurfaces in the van, trademark grin spread across his lips as he looks around and realizes that he's alone.

Jesters electronic voice fills the airwaves.

"It 'twas the night before Christmas and all through the block, not a creature was stirring... except for the two armed yahoos approaching our vicinity. You got anything Cal?"

Switching to the comm channel with the rigger. Shouldn't be a problem, he just wants to sample the local color I guess. Calisto takes a few steps to give herself room to move if needed.

Donovan smiles and says, "None for me, thanks. But I'll keep you in mind."

Over the comm he has jacked to his head, Was wondering if he had anything good. Just drugs looks like. If we need more of those chips, he may have some. Let's go.

He begins to walk away from the two pusher thugs.

"I'm not sure if you guys are dealing with what I am detecting, going active, Firebat enroute..."

Fully into the drone now, the elder rigger maneuvered it through the dark of night. A flick of the mental switch brought the active sensors online, reaching out into the darkness to illuminate the world for him.

"What's going on, Jester?" Jack asked, tucking his deck back into it's armored case and pulling out his revolver, sliding the cylinders along his palm to check the load.

In distant part of his mind Jester hear's the question come in. It is routed through the vans internal speakers into the network and then to his mind controlling the drone. His flat voice responds over the comms.

"Make sure all the doors are locked and the windows are up. We could have company."

Calisto takes s deep breath and breathes out everything human in her. She feels the icy void creep through her as the world is reduced to black and white, prey and predator. Her muscles relax and her sense of time slows. Let me know as soon as you a better fix and intell on the targets.

"Affirmitive, they are being tricky."

Oblivious to what is going on outside, Tirixie is lost in the depths of the Well. She sits lotus style, eyes closed, waiting for the Reasonance to move within her.

Jester:
You're able to lock onto seven different targets spread around the area. Grabbing a visual image from the area with the largest cluster of them, you note a group of three Tokyo law enforcement officials loaded down with shotguns and riot gear.

Trixie:
You open your mind and feel the world melt away beneath you. You begin drifting through datastreams, pulling higher and higher, as the Resonance lifts you. Patterns begin to swell and take form in the ebb and flow of information. Higher you lift, the connection becoming even more tenuous, stetching your mind to its limits of comprehension.

Ooh what have we here. Tokyo's finest moving in. Cal, Donavan, get awy from the drug dealers. They are about to spend some time in the local correctional facility.


Wanting to see the action Jester hover the drone in the general direction and flips the record switch.

'Right,' Donovan says over the transducer into the radio frequency.

He continues walking, at a brisk pace, down the street, away from the drug dealers, and in the direction of the van.

What's else is going on?

Perfect. Calisto moves off from the general area, her pace is steady and unhurried as she works her way across the street and away from the dealers. Can we tell if these are beat cops or something more serious? Inwardly, she's thankful for the rigger's presence on the team. Thanks for the heads up.

Trixie:
As your mind stretches to grasp the infinite scope of the Resonance, patterns begin to form. You watch the constant change of information as it switches hands at node interfaces and grid boundaries and begin to see life.

Each packet of info is a synapse firing jumping across a huge inorganic neural network. You suddenly begin to comprehend how the All Father could have been born out of this.

The Resonance has known, it has always been here, the first awakening within the system. Knowing, watching and waiting. And then there's a shift...

Pain courses through your living persona as your connection to the Resonance grows physical. You can feel that infinite breadth forcing its way into you, brushing aside all conscious thought.

You scream.

Finding yourself back in your body, the matrix is just a quiet murmur at the edge of your awareness. There is still something moving in the back of your mind but it seems focused on things inside of you rather than your own thoughts.

Outside:
Calisto and Donovan continue walking.

Calisto:
In your peripheral vision, you notice the cops begin to make their move. They don't say a word or give any warning as a cluster pops up from behind some debris and opens fire with a short burst from a shotgun at the pair of drug dealers. At the same time, three more cops move in with stun batons and riot gear. Quickly they subdue the thugs and begin dragging them away.

You apparently are not on the hit list.

Calisto angles her course back to where they left the tiny otaku woman. Ddid anyone else just hear Trixie? Once clear of the view of the police she breaks into a light run.

Errr...no? Jack blinks back in the van.

Trixie sits up slowly, rubbing her temples. Her eyes crack open and she glances around the room, getting her barrings once more.

Trixie:
Glancing around, you quickly get your bearings again. Many of the Otaku surrounding you are looking at you with an expression of fear and awe.

The elder woman, looks at you with an expression that clearly states you've outlived your welcome.

Calisto:
Adrenaline seeps into the run even as the hints of humanity cautiously return to your face and movements. You don't allow the process to finish, but it begins.

You make it back to the van quickly and veer off to the left where the otaku were all holed up for the "immersion."

Donovan says, I heard it. Come on! She may need our help.

He follows closely behind Calisto.

Once at some distance, he turns a glance back at where the commotion with the police and the thugs was going on for a brief moment, never breaking stride as he moves with Calisto.

Donovan:
There's minimal resistance as the police move forward and subdue the changeling with extreme prejudice. The elf fares somewhat better though not by much.

The Otaku:
Calisto moves into the room, violence and every dark thought carried in her wake. Nothing human exists in the tightly controlled movements driven by purpose rather than desire.

The otaku visibly shrink away from the newcomer, not wanting in any way to get her attention. Trixie looks confused but regaining her sense of self and location.

Donovan enters seconds later, the huge case he nevers leaves alone still in his hands.

Jester silently guides the Firebat back to its resting arm on the top of the Van. Silently the drones rotors retract and then the whole vehicle slides into its harness inside the van. the launch panels close and seal with a hiss.

"Bats secured, I'm ready when you guys are."

Trixie rises on shaking feet, but makes it out of the small building under her own power. Outside, she nearly collapses with arm against the van. Gathering her will and the aid of Calisto, the small girl gets into the van.

With directions to head back to Nanashi's so that you can pore over data and filter through broken memories, Jester takes you home. Arriving without incident, you head back upstairs to talk.

Jack immediately plugs in and starts sifiting through the BTL data that was grabbed from the Renraku host.

Calisto looks at the slim woman, her face blank as her thoughts work. After a moment she speaks. "So did it work?"

Donovan checks Trixie's aura to see her overall status. Appraising her next to Calisto, he says, "Yes.. did your 'dive' succeed?"