"My apologies my friend. And you're closer to the truth than you know. Unlike Ekilpse, my appearance makes normal conversation all but impossible. We cool?" Q reaches over and picks up his Japanese teacup near Strangeglove's cushion before he can sit on it.

<< Strangeglove[Q] Don't feel too bad about the magical surprise. Fleet's ability to control so much firepower is mysterious and intimidating to me. >>

"Apology accepted," Q nods to Ekilpse. "And I apologize, to you all, for the confusion I've caused with the necessary deception about my appearance."

Waiting for an opportune moment to speak, Q ask the group, "Do we know of her associates? Who her connections are? Will anyone come looking for revenge after the job? If this information needs to be found I've a number of places to look."

Fat Man
As the tension in the room slowly recedes you see an alert scroll across your field of vision - a reply from an earlier message you sent out to James.

<< I did a little asking around and it seems she has made an effort to leave everyone with a positive impression of her and her new business. She appears to be working against a bad reputation from her previous employer - he was less than liked in the community. Arrogant, petty, and mean spirited are the nicer terms used to describe him. She is new to the export/import world - before that she worked as private security. Any of that helpful? >>

"I believe we have finished the tossing, and can now return to civilized discussion."

<@Q[Fat Man]: There are a thousand paths to the Tao, and seventy-two left-hand paths and side doors. I know something of Buddhism and Wuxing, although I am largely unfamiliar with Christianity aside from what I've seen from Zerone. My patron, Guan Yu, was a hero in the Three Kingdoms War who was elevated to heaven for his virtue, and is now a god of war and a protector of temples and the law. If you studied such matters in Japan, you might know him as Kan U.>

"From what we have learned, Zuzane lacks allies - having recently struck out on her own after her patron's disappearance - and has made Madame Yin as an enemy. It might be a good idea for some of our more socially talented members to approach her - perhaps we can be paid twice for this venture.

"Everything I've heard about her indicates that it would be foolish to leave her alive, although perhaps Madame Yin would be willing to pay for her. Otherwise we would simply be inviting her to come after us for revenge."

<@James[Fat Man]: That is indeed helpful - thank you for your information.>


Fat Man stops to fumble with his commlink clumsily for a minute.

"Oh, one further note about Zuzane. She appears to be trying to build a good reputation as a fixer and trader - any other enemies she has would come from her days in security or would be enemies of her old master, not people she's dealt with recently."

"That's not your real face? You're blue and fuzzy underneath? And you've been casting an illusion and wearing a mask this whole time? Damn. Huh. Well I guess looking normal could be ok."

Strangeglove ponders this for a moment.

"Fatty, I agree we're better off killing her, both to keep her from coming after us, and because she's our ticket into Madame Yu's many bedrooms."

Pulling up the map in AR, Strangeglove grunts his dissatisfaction.

"That place is going to be a bitch to clear. A million tiny little rooms, and with drones everywhere, it'll be HE all the way. We'll be sifting through rubble trying to find our loot. And if Cypher can't get control of the doors, blowing them all will take an hour and probably kill us all in the process.

"Speaking of which, anyone know how to deal with corps? Having Boeing security roll on us would wreck this. Can we drop 'em a line, claim we're doing demolitions, or a live-fire house clearing exercise or something? Moreover, if we can avoid pissing off Boeing, we can spend all day clearing the place out, instead of throwing everything in the back of a truck and running."

Peeling back the edits and modifications, Cypher restores access to the TacNet to the team. He deactivates the wired reflexes system--the last time he left it running he was famished.

"When folks are ready to roll out, we have some more recon to do. I can scour the matrix to find out if psycho-bitch has any enemies, but nothing popped up in the first round of searches. There may be a few wives and children of LoneStar officers looking for payback, but the revenge business gets messy. And I'm guessing we all have plenty of experience in that department."

<<@Dr. Huxtable: Thank you very much for your quick reply, Dr. Huxtable. I think I can come in before the clinic opens. Also, let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I am not well trained, but I do have a medkit and am happy to follow instructions. I have been busy working with others outside of my church's congregation. They are a coloring? No...colorful! They are a colorful group, very different from the other theurges I normally work with. I think it is good experience, though, to meet with others...although it is a little strange sometimes. At least they are nice.>>

As Zero finishes up his message to Dr. Huxtable, he feels the flow of mana shift about him. The familiar rush of mental programming goes through his head, still failing to evoke the emotional response his creators had intended. He cocks his head to the side, curious with what is going on.

"Um...why is someone casting spells on me?"

At Zero's question, Strangeglove pauses, his hand halfway to a cup of tea. He looks at Zero, then at Q, then at Fat Man, then at Eklipse, his gaze finally coming to rest on the floor. A look of patient endurance works its way slowly across his face.

Fucking mages.

<< @Strangeglove It goes a little beyond just blue and fuzzy. That's odd but acceptable. Mine is a whole other league and causes people to feel quite uncomfortable. >>

<< @Zero That's probably my Veil ((Physical Mask)). My apologies for the needed deception. I haven't felt any other magic floating around, but double checking is never unwise. >>

<< @Fat Man I not very familiar with him, but I was never trained by a master and most of my knowledge and skill comes from a little bit of every where. I only knew him as one of the guardians of temples, not as one who fought back in those heroic battles. >>

<< @Cypher Before everyone heads out, I'd appreciate knowing why turning over our commlinks is required for this run. Mine holds some sentimental value and I'm loath to let go of it. >>

"I'll go speak with this Madam Yin while the scouting's being done. I didn't see her in the data packet; can someone shoot me her intel? As for Zuzane, any idea what sort of trade and merchandise she deals in?"

<< @Q [Cypher] You can keep it, but I need to access it to ensure that you have the necessary hardware to access the TacNet and that it doesn't pose security threats to the team.>>

"Madam Yin is a high scale madame running a club called the Body Bag, her place has been whacked a few times by different criminal groups--most recently someone taking out Yaks Zuzane is a weapons merchant and deals in illegal goods."

Jon looks around and seems to warm up a little now that the talk has gotten around to the objective.
"So what kind of physical recon have we done or are we doing, and how can I help?"

<< @A: Greetings Luminous Lady, I hope that your travels have treated you well and properly stimulated your impressive intellect. I wanted to give you notice that some renovations were occurring while I'm in transit for a job. I inform you so that you're not surprised on your all to welcome return. (in Japanese) >>

<< @Cypher: Gotcha. I'm only a novice, but do you mind if I watch the process? >>

<< @Meave: I've found something right up your alley. Mind if I stop by to go over the lodge we've been talking about? >>

"And if there's anyone not going on recon, I'm a fan of the buddy system."

Eklipse pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

These fragging amateurs are going to get me killed.

"I vill come with you. Zere are enough of ze others to handle ze initial recon."

Plus I trust you about as far as I can throw you. Which isn't very goddamned far.

"Just to be clear to everyone, thiff is a burglary, not a hit. Everything we're hearing about this shaitan is that we don't want to meff with her. Planf at this point include hitting her place quietly while she'f out and leaving behind as little evidence as possible."

The hobgoblin's voice was slightly distorted through the helmet, which he was still wearing.

Electronic Recon is going on as we speak. Eklipse is running the show, so he's calling the shotf on who goes where. What's your call, Boff? Who'f going on-site?"

<<@Q[Zero]: Oh, okay. I asked because my creators' mental programming starts up when I think I am in danger. It does not work on me, thankfully, but the barrage of visions...well...it's not a pleasant thing to experience. I guess I should take precautions, though.>>

The elf's eyes glaze over as he shifts his vision across the physical veil...

"Fleet, I thought this was a hit. Not that we care about Zuzane, but easier to kill her than have her gunning for us, yeah? We should probably be clear on expected body count."

Eklipse leans forward, his gaze flitting around the room taking in each of the runners. His AR flashes with his notes on their capabilities and flaws.

"Okay, let me be clear. Zis is to be an acquisiton run. Collateral damage is to be kept to a minimum, especially considering ze neighbours. Zuzanne is to be considered a prioirty threat and if we need to take her out zen too bad for her. If Madame Yin is prepared to offer a bounty for her head, then she becomes a priority target and we factor taking her down into ze plan."

"For ze recon, I am not comfortable with putting all our eggs in ze one basket. I suggest Cypher, Zerone, Breeze and Broody take ze first car. Zey can scout ze location astrally, digitally and physically. Fleet, SG, Fat Man and Emilio take car two as backup and secondary recon. Herr Q and I shall pay Madame Yin a visit to discuss her recent difficulties. Any comments or suggestions?"

"It actually is better if myself and Zerone are physically in the same car. We can deal with the astral end of things more effectively by working together."

Breeze was slouched and leaning on some piece of furniture when the orders were going out, but as Eklipse finished his briefing, something in Breeze's eyes seem to click, he straightens up almost like a soldier and looks over to Eklipse...

"Aye Captin, gearing up now"

Breeze picks up his bag and walks to the corner of the room, dons his chameleon suit and arms himself with his pistols, he checks the ammo, checks the guns to make sure everything is working properly and then holsters them in a hidden arm slide and a concealed holster, his focus on these preparations seem second nature.

Fleet furrows brows slightly behind his helmet at the sudden shift in Breeze's behavior, given his previously oblivious and clueless attitude. With a shrug, he gives Eklipse a nod, pausing at Fat Man's suggested change and waiting only long enough to note the change to the arrangement, if any.

Outside, the vehicles are already started and waiting, doors sliding open as seats shift to accommodate the larger and smaller frames of the people assigned to each vehicle. In his own car, he waits for the others to slide into their seats, eyes drifting closed as his hands slide over the wheel in an almost affectionate manner. Once everyone's in, he gives the assembled groups a nod and slumps back in his seat, pausing for a moment in overseer mode, vehicles hovering below his floating frame in wireframe designs, showing relative positions, potential targets and anything else of note that's marked on the TacNet. A few last commands sent out, he leaves several of the smaller drones and the rotor drones at the location, along with one of the silent VTOL craft, tucked away in one of the vehicles that would be remaining behind.

With a mental shout of exhilaration, he slides into the car he's sitting in, feeling tires grip the pavement, feeling himself purring in that soft rumble of eagerness, the urge to bottom out everything immediately and rush off in a streak of adrenaline and exhaust unfortunately stuffed down, as almost always, but it does nothing to dampen his enjoyment of the presence of the thing. A glance in non-existent mirrors show the wirefeeds and read outs of the other vehicles as the pair pull smoothly out and away from the ruined structure, pouring swiftly an unobtrusively as possible back through the Barrens and towards civilization. He builds a virtual map of the road and the route ahead for everyone in the two vehicles, taking the opportunity to keep the other swept-winged drone cruising over head while in the relatively free airspace of the Barrens, checking for roadblocks, gang activity, and keeping tabs on the Mafia and Yakuza territories noted before.

Zero
You look into the realm of spirits and astral energies and see the flickers of life within all the people assembled. The house feels relaxed and happy but there is a tightness underneath it all - a tension like a whisper discordant whisper at the back of your mind. It carries tones of fear and worry - as if all this beauty and splendor is fragile and brittle. Looking around the room and see no activity in the astral. Q has mana woven around his form but that's all you see.

Recon Teams
The convoy pulls out from the wreckage of the area and you feel the shifts as the cars scatter - each taking a different route to prevent anyone from finding their origin point a little more difficult. You see the naked need of the faces of the squatters and people long forgotten by those living in the gleaming city in the distance. You see twitches and jerks as they consider trying to take a shot at scoring big but each group loses what spirit it had at the sight of obvious superior resources. Their faces collapse into burnt out shells of their lives and they shout half hearted curses and even a brave few throw debris from the streets. You see Fleet take care to avoid the pockets of organized crime control - the only real threat to you in this area at the moment.

The Barrens drops away and you soon move into a more industrial area with infrastructure to support the workers in the area. Bars, restaurants, and housing structures built to accommodate a wage worker's family. You see a few schools for the children of this working class population and the needful public works like hospitals and Knight Errant security stations. The cars once again scatter as the one with Cypher peels off to find a place for the hacker to work undisturbed. The car with Fat Man & Zero begins to weave itself into the traffic heading for the region by the Federated Boeing facility, sliding into the flow of cargo trailers and commuters heading to their next destination. The size of the site suggests a 24 hour works force churning away in the bowels of the structure to keep the nuyen flowing.

Cypher
You car pulls up to an eatery called Air Stream - a buffet style restaurant attempting to capture some tourist traffic boasting an impressive array of Federated Boeing memorabilia and aeronautical knick knacks. You enter and are greeted by a plastic and insincere hostess who drones on with her intro speech that lifelessly spills from her overdone lips. She guides you to a small table and waves a lifeless hand towards the buffet and takes your drink order with almost nonexistent personality. You see small families trying out the local flavor mixed in with local workers grabbing a quick bit to eat.

The hacker moves through the buffet grabbing a tray of food before sitting down at a small table. Cypher begins the scans, verifying the pings that Fleet provided earlier. He then tries to ping them by bouncing a signal through the local grid.

Q nods in acknowledgement to Eklipse. His face stays completely calm at Fleet's surprising mention of Ekilpse being in charge.

This is his show?!

As people are disembarking, Q IMs Cypher, << @Cypher: Can you give me anything more on Zuzane's attack on Madam Yin's business? When did it happen, who was with her, what'd she do? And do we have a picture of her?>>

<< @Madam Yin: Greetings Madam. I've some recently come across information on some important property that I believe belongs to you. I'd like to meet and see if you're interested in its retrieval. >>

During the drive to Madam Yin's, Q turns from the passenger seat to Eklipse, "Do you have anything more specific in mind than finding out if she's willing to put up cash for Zuzane or things she might not have sold yet? Other than keeping it quiet of course? Strangeglove mentioned becoming her bouncers or bodygaurds. Do you want me to try and sweeten our pot with something like that?"

As the car is traveling for physical recon, Jon pulls out his automatic rifle, slips a magazine into it. He keeps the chamber clear for safety in both the rifle and the underbarrel grenade launcher. he proceeds to pull out both automatic pistols and preps them as well.

as the car pulls close, he thinks about how he would secure the building and looks for existing cameras, motion detectors, automatic barriers and weapon sensing devices. then, he estimates the expected response time for knight errant or other rent-a-cops.

Cypher
You watch the scan begin to resolve and see the nodes begin to populate. You grab the scan results and overlay it with the new one being created and see the numbers match up but it seems 10 of them are in different positions. You pull up the analysis that Fleet did and see he noted he thought they might be mobile drones in the building or people patrolling. You see the 32 hidden nodes and then bounce a signal through the local grid and see it only hit two of the nodes in the scan.

Q
You see an almost immediate reply from the Body Bag node flash across your vision.

<< Hello and thank you for your interest in Madame Yin. My name is Theodore and i handle all of her appointments. Looking over her schedule she has a spot open this morning from 2 am to 3 am at the Body Bag. Simply reply to this message with a yes and I will reserve the spot. Simply tell security you have an appointment and mention my name. Have a great night and I look forward to meeting you. >>

You quickly send off the reply and make arrangements to get to the club for the meeting. As you drive up to the club you can see people exiting en masse. The bar is closing it seems and you watch the parade of fetish wear and fringe stroll past. The smell of leather, rubber, sweat and alcohol washes over you as the club airs out. You see a large troll woman dressed in tight bound leather and vast array of facial piercings seems to be manning the doors to the club.

Strangeglove
You look over the building as the car you're in makes it ways around the area. You see the sensor clusters spread around the exterior of the building and the locks on the doors look like maglocks with some sort of additional scanner or sensor attached - maybe some sort of biometrics. You see that the 20 meters around the site is kept clear and open. There looks to be little in the way of patrols.

Jon
You see the site and it seems the exterior is using an automated security set up of some sort. You see sensor clusters and the structure itself could easily support rail drones or imbedded weapon mounts. Being a former Federated Boeing property they would have had the money and clout to get the permits and build a system into it. The absence of patrols reinforces the idea. There might be someone sitting in the system keeping on eye on things just to make sure it is all working like it should. The area has the Federated Boeing next to it so you know you'll need to make sure nothing you do draws their notice or gives them a reason to be concerned.

Eklipse nods to Q.

"Ja, zat about covers it. I vant you to let her know zat we are having some unfinished business with zis Zuzanne. See if she has any intel on her capabilities or whereabouts. Ja, I know we know where the warehouse is, but if Zuzanne is elsewhere, it could make ze heist somewhat easier, neh? Finally, it would be good to know if she is willing to pay for ze return of any stolen goods or ze lady's head. As for SG, he is only interested in getting in her good books for ze free booze and whores. However, she supposedly has some connections. An additional ally or even just a source of informations vould be welcome."

<@Team [Cypher] Alright so, we have 10 mobile nodes (drones or guards), 20 stationary nodes (sensors, mag locks, or landmines), and 2 stationary nodes that talk to the outside world (control systems?). That is 30 more than I can handle without making a ruckus. It's possible that the two nodes will give me access to spoof the others but no guarantee. If I can't take the rest, we'll need to squelch them when we go in.>

<@Fleet [Cypher] Can you task your agent with probing the mobile targets? Don't breach yet, but if we have a few back doors, it may help subvert drones that I can't control.>

Pushing the remnants of his meal aside, Cypher looks over the buffet and spots the dessert bar. He slides out from his table and grabs a few of the pre-portioned desserts. Paranoia warred against practicality in his mind. The team is working for someone who has inside knowledge about the Yakuza organization and their businesses, someone was poisoning the Oyabun and Dr. Takayasu let it keep going. How much could he trust Management? The house looked perfect, too perfect, like a Honeypot waiting to be downloaded.

Spoofing his commlink, Cypher cycled through connections. Finding Tabby, he took a deep breath and made what could be a very bad choice.

<@Tabby [Cypher] Hey girl, I'm looking for some talent and information. Do you have a medic that can setup a remote medkit and be on-call for 24 hours to monitor some vitals? Also what can you tell me about folks with a grudge against the Yaks? I'm particularly interested in folks who have the clout to fund a private group of psychopaths and keep them on a tight leash.>

Traveling to Madam Yin's:
"That sounds good." A little while later after being lost in thought, Q turns to Eklipse with an idea, "I'd like to get a little more knowledge of Zuzane's previous boss, Micheal Nelson. I'd like to try to frame him for the theft. Leave a partial clue at the scene, let her work her way to a fake abandoned safe house and find some shred of evidence suggesting that he's alive. This would take more work, but hopefully get her off our trail completely. Do you think we've enough time to pull off a stunt like this?"

<< @Cypher: When you've a moment, can you tell me how hard it is to fake a remodeling company? I was figuring that if I and one or two others went ahead of time to Federated Boeing as the foreman and workers of this company and told them we'd be doing some work on the place, than we might excuse a higher level of noise. Quick and quiet would still be best of course. Possible downfall is if she has someone on staff, like a manager I'd probably have to talk to. Get back to me with your thoughts when you've a minute. >>

Entrance to the Body Bag:
After Eklipse parks the car and they return to the entrance to the Body Bag club, Q greets the bouncer with an admiring look, "Hey there. We're here to see Theodore about an appointment." Q's posture is nonchalant and confident.

<@Q [Cypher] You would need a forger for that. The bigger the fish you're trying to con, the better the forger you'll need. Federated-Boeing is a big fish.>

Q
As the bouncer holds up a hand indicating you to wait for a moment as she sorts out some departing customers, you see an icon for a new message from Meave.

<< Why you would even think you know what I put up my alley I have no idea. But alas, I have a fondness for addled men so bring your sorry self by for a bit of drink and we can talk about business, my alley and what you think I should be putting up it. [Meave] >>

You can almost hear the sweet lilt of her Irish accent as you read it over. You are brought back to reality when the door woman turns and asks bluntly, her voice tired and thin from a long night at the club.

"That's fine. Head in and check your toys in with Zandie. No weapons on any kind allowed in the club and if you need a prop see about renting something inside from Pandora's Box."

She runs a hand over the locking plate of the entrance door and you see the door release. Ahead is a long hall with walls plastered with AROs of Madame Yin's films, upcoming events at the Body Bag and interactive menus for the nights entertainments and to get your drink order started. At the end of the hall is an obvious security scanner station in front of what looks like a coat check. A young woman is perched on a stool and waves for you to come on down to her.

Cypher
You see the message go out and a few moments later you see an incoming call from Tabby. Clicking on it - a small digital cat rezzes into your view.

"You caught me at my desk so to speak and frankly, you are the nicest talking nerd man I know so I like talking to you. I can set you up with someone who knows how to use a medkit and watch a body but how much skill are you looking for? An EMT, a nurse or an actually doctor? Where are you looking to set up this make shift clinic?"

As the cat speaks it begins to clean itself in between sentences - each question pops up as an interactive window for you to enter your answer into.

"As to who hates the Yak and has the money to do something about it - well hun I am going to need a little more information to even hazard a guess. Do you have anything to narrow down the search with?"

Emilio
You sit and watch the traffic whiz by as the vehicle you're in swings by the warehouse. Looking it over, you are immediately struck by the lack of foot traffic or patrols and see the sensor clusters dotting along the exterior of the building. You see they keep the area out to 20 meters clear so sneaking up is a little more challenging. You see the larger facility in the distance and think you'll need to keep it low key to at least until you're inside.

Peering out the window at the boring beige building, Strangeglove grumbles to no one in particular.

"I shoulda gone to Madame Yin's with Q and Eklipse. No one is going to hire those two as security."

"An EMT should be fine, looking for someone who can watch a bio monitor and start my heart again if it stops, pick a nearby coffin motel and Ill be there To the other, they are locally based and highly skilled. Possibly linked to an old estate with full-blown geisha house in the Barrens. Other data is nuclear so I don't want to share it without you knowing what you're signing up for."

Jon listens to Strangeglove's mumbling,
"Is that what they are trying to do?"

He sits back and monitors who goes in and out of the building and makes an attempt to start conversation.
" Interesting, didnt really seem like a subtle job. How long have you been with this team? Doesn't seem overly organized"

Cypher
The cat circles a few times and settles down with its tail wrapped around itself.

"Ok fair enough. Thanks for not handing me a steaming pile of crap by the way. I'll see what I can find out with what you have. I'm going to keep it low key for now and I'll get back to you. Let's say 1,000 for the research and the EMT rental will cost you 250. I can go lower on the rental but no promises you aren't abused while under or even have all your shit when you get back."

Three small windows open - one a prompt to transfer funds, the other contains contact information for someone named Bandaid and the last a map showing a coffin hotel on the southern edge of Downtown core.

"You will need to cover the cost of the coffin hotel - I'll have a room ready at the Budget 9. I'll be in touch."

When you complete the transfers and download the cat fades from sight.

Fleet
With the cars all secured and situated you allow yourself to sink deeper into VR and send your consciousness flitting between nodes on your network, You set up a schedule with the drones to cover the site from as many angles as possible for the next 48 hours. You look over the readouts and quickly create a subroutine to cover refueling and tighten up the timetables to make sure you don't create any holes in the coverage while doing so. You set machines to grab and record the wireless traffic coming from the warehouse and set up a place to store the data till it can be analyzed later. You watch it stream past and clearly it is encrypted as it just scrolls past as nonsense symbols and values. You take a moment to transfer to each drone to make sure the angles are solid and then return back to your body.

Body Bag Club:
Entering the club foyer, Q takes a digital copy of the Body Bag's brochures and upcoming events. Walking over to Zandie, he removes the predator from its holster and the combat knife from his boot. He then unslings the heavy wrench and places it on the table. "I might need a locker for this unless I can convince you that it's worthy of the club's style. And if you're any indication, it looks to be quite an experience," he says with genuine smile. "Before I forget, what're the rules while we're here for our appointment?"

Strangeglove smirks proudly, "That was my idea. Get paid twice for the same job, then maybe get a day job working muscle at a cat-house. Something to pay the bills so I don't have to decide between SoyMeat and toys. Plus the benefits, of course. And Zuzane's head on a platter should be just the thing to prove our strength."

Strangeglove snorts.

"Subtle is always better. If you make noise, there's always someone waiting to stomp on you; Knight Errant, Federated Boeing, someone. If we had three hackers, this job might be subtle. As it is, I'm just hoping Cypher can open the front door. After that it'll be room clearing against drones, which means HE, which is the opposite of subtle. And that's assuming Zuzane isn't home and trying to punch our hearts through our spines."

Arching an eyebrow, SG gives Jon the eyeball.

"I thought Management sent you? Didn't they give you files on the team?"

Eklipse's suit is pure company man - dark, armored and big enough to conceal an arsenal. It makes him seem broader than he is and taller too, although that might just be the way he carries himself.

He certainly doesn't blend in with the last of the departing patrons, but his blue fur would make him stand out even if he was wearing fetish gear. He follows Q, content to let the mage do the talking. As they reach Zandie and the scanner, he holds out his hands, palms facing up like a priest.

"I am carrying no veapons, as your scanner vill confirm."

I am the weapon.

Continuing to monitor the building, Jon thinks for a second and in his heavy amazonian accent

"No argument that subtle is good, just seemed like it was a smash and grab.. I think thats the term criminals use anyway, Nice idea though"

Noticing he is getting the eyeball from Strangeglove

he didnt exactly answer my question did he, got to remember that while we are working together we aren't exactly a team

Strangeglove laughs.

"I keep forgetting you're corp. Yeah, it's a smash and grab, but when the smashee is running a score of drones, and is parked in the middle of a FB security zone, there's no 'just' about it. Also, and more importantly, if you can be subtle, you've got longer to cart out loot. Learned that the hard way. A few jobs ago we lost, I dunno, a million nuyen because our hacker forgot to close the door behind us, and our rigger didn't have a silencer."

He stops scanning the area and leans back in his seat, relaxed. He seems to be enjoying knowing more than someone, for once.

"The downside of stealing heavy weapons from someone is they've got heavy weapons, right. Some milk run. Runners are a bunch of paranoid bastards. I'd trade a mage or two for some hackers right about now, for sure. We could probably get in and out without firing a shot. I bet they could make the drones carry loot for us. It'd be like a self-robbing shop."

As the car takes them to the destination, Zero stares out the window at the Barrens. His heart is heavy with concern, and he is offering prayers for the blight's denizens when he hears Follower's voice.

"Your sympathy is touching, my friend, as are your prayers to them, but what does He say when you see such things?"

"'What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.'"

"James 2, Verses 14 through 17. And what is the lesson from it, my friend?"

"If you are to follow His Word, then you must do His Will. It is not enough to offer sympathy to the needy, but to aid them."

"Exactly, my friend. Do not forget what you see and feel here, and do what you can to help them."

<@Fleet, Eklipse [Cypher] I'll be off the grid for a little while hacking. Leave a message if you need me.>

Cypher paid the bill automatically, debiting the charge from the account he used for restaurants. Stepping outside, he hailed an autocab to the transit depot. The hacker walked through the busy terminal, spoofing his commlink while he ducked into a bathroom stall. He spoofed it again, walking through a crowd of people transferring from the train to various connections. When he felt sure that no one was watching him, Cypher grabbed another auto-cab to the Budget 9.

Once he was en route, he sent a message to Band-aid to coordinate their meeting and setting up the medkit. The hacker added that Tabby had a bonus for the medic if everything stayed in the green.

---

Some time later, he was laying on a hard bed. The medkit was plugged into his body and ready to do whatever the EMT needed to do, just in case. Cypher took a deep breath and plunged into the digital world.

In the Magic Scouting Car

Fat Man rearranged the inside of the car to enhance the flow of chi through it and make it safer to interact with the spiritual world, giving Zero a chance to summon one of his spirits first, and then calling for a shen that knew how to handle itself in the shadows of the city.

At first, nothing appeared - then a large feline form separated itself from the shadow cast by the car and looked up at the magicians and Emilio with an expression that could have been either bored or quizzical. Fat Man bowed to it respectfully, then addressed it in Mandarin.

"Greetings, noble feline spirit. We seek to prepare for a raid on a nearby compound, and I humbly ask your help in scouting the area unobtrusively. We have procured this map of the enemy base, but we do not know anything about the astral terrain or guardians. We also know that there is a nearby neutral location that might very well be much more heavily defended, over in this direction.

"I ask you to stalk through the astral plane around this area unnoticed and tell us everything you can about what lies inside - in particular, the location and strength of any wards, any spirits guarding the compound, any living beings and if they are awakened or mundane, and of course anything else unusual you might notice that we did not expect."

Body Bag
The young woman smiles and you watch as her nanotattoos of vines and thorns undulate on her skin.

"Sorry - no weapons allowed Madame Yin's rules though there are plenty of fun options you can rent. Just pull up the Pandora's Box ARO and pick out what you like."

As she speaks you see her gesture and a window opens up in AR in front of her. She runs her hand up and down the interface and data begins to populate it. She takes the items offered and slides them into a long narrow drawer that ejects from a wall to side. Her hands move without much thought - having done this countless times before. She withdraws a small tab from the drawer and hands it to Q.

"You'll need that to collect your things on the way out. If you lose it, there's a replacement fee of 50 nuyen and security will have to clear you to make possession of any and all personal items."

She seems satisfied with the results of the scan and pinches the window close. Turning she smiles - a truly dazzling display on her well balanced face.

"The rules are simple - no touching without permission first. Actual sex acts between guests must happen in private areas only. The club does not monitor for recording devices so keep that in mind when making choices and every artist here is covered by copyright and intellectual property laws. That covers the club as for Madame Yin, well I have no idea what business you gentlemen have with but I would mind your manners. Just head through the door to your right and look for Theo - can't miss him. He's the one that looks like sex in silk."

She makes a motion and the door at the end of the hall unlocks. As you pass through you see the harsh white lights are up illuminating the interior. You see several small stages set up around the floor with spaces for dancing around them. Two bars line the left and right walls as you enter where bartenders are restocking. Every employees is dressed in some sort of fetish theme - leather, rubber, straps, body glitter and the like. You see a handsome gentleman directing the traffic as people clean up. He is fit and dressed in a stylish suit that appears to be made of real raw silk. He turns, his face is clear and animated - charm seems effortless for him as he walks towards you with a hand extended.

"Welcome to the Body Bag, you must be the 2 o'clock appointment. Madame Yin will be out shortly - can I get either of you a drink?"

Fleet
You launch the programs and agents to decrypt the recorded signals. You watch as it chugs it's way through various algorithms and cyphers till it slowly peels back the encryption. YOu look over the logs and see a series of check ins and all clears. It seems the exterior security elements have a cycle of checking in with either an agent or an operator - reposting their status. You see about 10 different stations checking in so you think at least 10 nodes are dedicated to monitoring the outside. Sliding the data aside you look for any sign of communication between the 10 mobile nodes and the rest of the network and oddly see nothing. You can't find any wireless traffic to the other 10 nodes unaccounted for either but that would be wired into the building if it's a rail network - popular with larger industrial structures.

Breeze
You look out the tinted window and scope out the warehouse. You are immediately struck by the open space around the building - a good 20 meters is cleared back and there looks to be no foot traffic which just screams automated security of some sort. Probably sensors tied to lord knows what. You think they would have a minimum of one cluster for each exterior wall and at least 2 on the roof - most likely the corners.

Strangeglove
As you talk you eyeball the distance from the larger facility to this one and estimate that a security team in a car with a need to be here could cover the distance in about half a minute - a minute if they were not the best of drivers. Aerial drones would be up in your face and shooting something at your asses in 15 to 30 seconds - damn long range weapons though being in the building would make that less of a problem.

Cypher
Bandaid is a young and bright faced Ork who pumps your hand vigorously when he meets you at the Budget 9. He has a small backpack that you watch as he sets up the leads and hook ups to monitor you.

"Thanks for the job man, I need the nuyen bad so glad to get the call. Feel free to call me if you need anything patched up. I use to work for DocWagon but my supervisor was raiding the pharm and they decided we were all fruit of the poison tree so out with me. Now with the hanging over me I cant get work back in the corp sector, well fuck em. I get enough shit for being a tusker so I decided to see what I could make free lancing. OK all set - ready when you are."

His motions are practiced and confident, His smile is the last thing you see as you transition into VR and find yourself floating in the void. Pulling up the programs you'll need and tasking the agents, you try to ignore the imagined feeling of Bandaid harvesting your organs while you do the run in the matrix. You send the orders out and feel the phantom movement as you "travel" to the nodes. You hover outside the nodes and begin to examine the code embedded into them - looking for holes you can use to slip in with no one the wiser. You tease out strands of code and pour over searches to see what if possible. The hours fly by until you think you have a backdoor for both that can get you in. Taking a deep breath you run the hack on the node and slip in.

You enter a maelstrom of symbols, sounds and data fragments - quickly realizing the node is encrypted you pull up the needful program and begin to translate the chaos around you. You implement several shortcuts to shorten the time and cringe at the inelegance of the code, hoping it doesn't decompile on you before you're finished. The storm of sensory input begins to coalesce into a dojo or sparring area for martial arts. You see in front of you an elderly Asian man bowing deeply and his speech becomes intelligible as the decryption completes.

"...to the Gateway. May I assist you?"

Cypher
You grab the scroll from the sash of your gi and unroll it - the symbols on it resolve into data. The node is not on alert, it seems the hacked account is holding up for now, but it does have several programs running on it. An analyze routine sculpted to look like the tatami matts under your feet. There is an agent, obviously the venerable master before you and you see IC is also present in the forms of training dummies along the back wall for sparring. There is connection to another node here - the wall to your left has a shoji door leading to the other node. You look up to see the agent still patiently waiting for your reply.

Q takes the hand of the approaching man with a firm, but non-challenging shake. "We are; thanks for having us. And none for me, though that's quite a nice selection. Well suited to your fine establishment" he notes, seemingly admiring the room, its decor, and interesting staff. "That was quite a diverse group of entertained clientele just leaving. You seem to be doing quite well here," Q compliments as he makes small talk and witty banter to get a feel for the well dressed majordomo, while they wait for Madam Yin.

I better keep an eye on Eklipse to make sure he's not going to get agitated. Though there was precious little warning last time.

Body Bag
He nods and makes eye contact with each of you as he shakes your hand. A dark and complicated smell wafts over you as he does so. His grip is strong but gentle and his skin warm. His face is strangely compelling and you find yourself wanting to linger on some small detail like his dimple as he speaks or the play of muscles along his neck.

"Thank you. I don't think I know either of your names? Shall we rectify that before meeting with Madame Yin..."

His tone is polite but firm and his expression openly curious as he waits. He seems to take the time to look each of you over and you find yourself wanting him to approve of you in some way.

Q
You take a moment to get his measure and find yourself unable to concentrate fully - his smile, voice and scent leave you feeling unsettled and your skin flushed. He seems to be as he presents himself - a personal assistant to Madame Yin.