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Fenris
Gawking as Ama twirls through the air, the man she's moving towards forgets to run, for the moment.

Near the doorway, the man dragging his unconscious friend pulls his burden out of the doorway, stumbling off one side of the steps and landing poorly. Though only a foot or two above the concrete sidewalk, his bruden removes the option for a graceful ending, and you can hear a short cry of pain as the man struggles to his feet again, one hand waving the gun in a distracted fashion towards Mato.
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

With a bestial roar, Mato charges across the gap after his wounded prey. He leaps down the stairs to pin Samael in a crushing blow beneath him.

Through the astral, a bear roars preparing to rend its next meal.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

With a snarling growl, Samael manages to twist out of the big man's grip again.

"You miserable animal, take your fragging paws off me!" He half-moves, half-falls back into the open door of the SUV as he breaks free again, almost wiggling free, kicking at Mato and using the solid block of his body to brace against to work himself further into the vehicle.

"Move, you stupid car, drive! Home!"

A soft, gentle voice chimes out in response.

"I cannot begin moving until all doors are completed closed. Please shut all doors on the vehicle and provide your request again."
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

As the ghoul jumps for the safety of his car, Mato's hand firmly closes around the back of his shirt yanking him back. His other arm sweeps around the front to pin him tight against his body.

"Prey creature, smell of fear."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
Continuing the motion of the somersaults she lands squarely in front of the gunmen. She pauses only for a brief second before swinging her leg up and clearing the gun from her way. As she spins around from the momentum she draws two sais from her back. Both spin in blurs of motion and reflected light as she thrusts forward with the point of the one in her right hand trying to drive it into his chest.
Notsoevildm
QUOTE (Fenris @ Jun 16 2013, 08:20 PM) *
The dogs continue their odd patterns of sniffing and searching, gleaming metal hides flowing past you as the huge beasts seem to ignore your presence. In front of you, you can see a small door inset into the glass dome of the viewing room, a round wheel and a keypad that seem more appropriate for a slab of vault door on a bank looking somewhat inconspicuous on the thin glass square.
Aha, paydata!

Shivan flashes past the dogs to the door taking in the handle and the keypad. He may have fooled the system into letting him in as an admin, but that unfortunately didn't mean he had the passwords for any secured data.

He hisses in frustration.

Holding out his hands he interlocks digital fingers and turns them palm outwards to pop the virtual knuckles. Then he carefully places his right hand over the keypad, not quite touching it as he prepares to hack it.
Fenris
Shivan

You press fingers lightly into the keys, stroking them, searching for that glitch or weakness in the design when suddenly the keys start to blur and run before your eyes, like the keypad itself is melting. Bits of virtual metal and plastic run down the casing in rivulets and begin to drip onto the ground next to the rest of your body in a slowly quickening rhythm. Tap......tap....tap....tap...tap..tap
Notsoevildm
Shivan's virtual hand jerks away from the melting keypad, his body coiling reflexively back from the growing puddle on the floor.

What the frag? Data bomb? Virus? Frag is it deleting the paydata?

Sparing a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the dogs have noticed, he focuses on the melting icon, tasting the air above it to see if he can work out what's happening and more importantly, how to stop it.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

With a howl of his own, Samael is dragged back out of the car, claws gouging furrows in the faux-leather seats. He twists and turns in the grip, already trying to break the big man's hold again.

Outside, one of the men continues to tug the unconscious man towards the second SUV. There's a flash of movement from above, and Amy's thin form drops down, probably from a first floor window. She ducks in under the man's waving gun and strokes a hand lightly across his cheek. At her touch, flesh putrefies and flakes away, and the man screams as the visible black miasma follows the veins and arteries under the skin, spreading rapidly up and over his face, bone showing clearly through the ragged flap of skin on his jaw.
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

Feeling the man's pulse racing against his throat, Mato begins to squeeze. His arms tighten around Samael's chest and body, threatening to force all life out of the ghoul's body if he continues to struggle.
Notsoevildm
Some form of encryption. I'll figure out why it's melting later.

Wasting no time Shivan's hand spins around, reconfiguring itself into two long blade-line probes as he offlines his attack program in favour of his decryption utility.

He drives the probes into the melting console, hoping to decrypt the data archive and save the data before it melts away to nothing.

Fenris
Boots

Sean has the decency to look abashed, but the Fomori's slumping shoulders stiffen as you toss out Bea's name, and there's an unmistakable edge of anger in the trolls voice as he wheels the cart to face you.

"Ya' think Ah don't wantta' do sumthin'? Tha' Ah don' watch tha' blast tha' killed Bea over and over again in meh' head when Ah go ta' sleep? But what would you ha' me do? Hunt down tha' security guard that threw tha' spell? Tear down tha' corp tha' we were hittin'? Who's fault is it, really? Besides mine, fer not keepin' her safe..." By the end of the rant, Sean's head is in his hands, a low groan of anguish rolling from his lips.

____________________________________

Ama and Mato

Samael gasps as Mato's massive arms squeeze, compressing lungs and ribs together in a grinding motion. He gasps for breath, eyes flicking down as the length of his belt stiffens and solidifies into a solid bar in his hand.
Fenris
Shivan

The melting keypad abruptly freezes as the probes slide past the interior. As you slowly work the probes through the interior, bypassing the maze-like circuitry that represents the encryption algorithms used to hide it's programming, the keypad slowly regains resolution, numbers reforming on it's face, and a series of numbers click over from being highlighted in red to being highlighted in green.

Behind you, the hounds prowl restlessly back and forth, ears flicking towards the glass dome as a series of *clunks* announce the opening of the small glass door above the ladder that leads down into the archive. Heads all pointed in unison, the beasts are still for a long moment before they return to their patrol, metal feet clanging softly against the floor as they pad away.

Below, the four identical cabinets slide open on silent rollers as you slither down the ladder, displaying neat racks and rows of thin slim files, each row seeming to stretch back into a black infinity inside the cabinet. A small floating object appears next to the cabinets, a surrealistic swirl of molten metal lines and spheres. Boldly painted across the upper surface in a cheerful and elegant green script is a single line of text, "ASK ME ANYTHING!"
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
She moves with the thrust as it is partially deflected by the body armor of Samael's hired muscle. She pivots to bring her elbow around attempting to drive it into the soft tissue of his face but he ducks down and her arm swings clear. She takes the motion of the strike and rolls across his shoulder blades as he brings his head back up. With a snap of the grip she drives the sai in her left hand point first into the junction of his neck and shoulder.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

The man in front of Ama gives a strangled grunt as the blunted tip drives home, pinching nerve and bruising muscle, and his shoulder slackens in response to the pain, hanging loose as he struggles to bring the gun to bear, thrusting the barrel at the slim girl's midsection as he depresses the trigger in a long, stuttering burst.

Babs takes a half step from around the corner, shotgun leveled at her shoulders, and the unmuffled gunshot is a loud roar compared to the men's silenced weapons as smoke belches from the barrel and the man with the grenade flies backward to slam against the wall behind him and tumble to a heap on the ground.

Samael wrenches himself free yet again from the confining grip of the bear of a man, the long slim bar in his hand snapping up into a guard position held tight and diagonal across his body. He begins to lean back, attempting to enter the vehicle again, but his eyes flicker up and over Mato's shoulder and he abruptly settles back into a ready position, eyes locked on his massive opponent.
UmaroVI
Sean and Boots's Apartment

Boots's demeanor softened again as he saw Sean's pain.

"I'm sorry I got angry at you, Sean, and you know I don't blame you for what happened. It was my responsibility too. But I'm not ready to let this go yet. Maybe you're right, maybe not, but I have to be sure. It's my duty to be sure nobody betrayed us. Can you help me track Block down? I want to talk to him."

"And one more thing... I need to pay my final respects. I need your help finding out what happened to Bea's body. You don't need to go, but I do."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
With no room to avoid the spray of bullets, she twists as best she can but still feels the impact of bullet after bullet slam against her body. She struggles to keep her feet but loses her balance, dropping one of the weapons she reaches out to slap the ground and spread the impact across a larger area of her body. She lets the momentum carry her across the floor and tucks her feet beneath herself and regains her standing position. Sliding her free hand along her forearm and draws forth two shuriken.
Fenris
Boots

Sean seems to recover a bit at your words, wiping the welling tears from his eyes roughly with the back of one hand and nodding.

"Hay disappeared after Bea died. Well, we kin start by checking his ould place - Ah know he's not tha' anymore, but whoever's there now might know where hay went. Ah'll do some huntin' 'round in the Matrix as well, so if Ah kin pick up trails of where he went." His shoulders slump a bit at the mention of Bea's body, more guilt showing clearly in his features.

"Ah dun' knew wha happened to her body...Ah was unconscious after the explosion, not even sure how Ah got clear. Couldn' exactly go back an' ask about her..."

__________________________________________________________________

Ama and Mato

As the man outside collapses next to the body of the friend he'd been dragging clear of the fight, Mato can clearly see Amy shudder and drop down her knees, her skin split open and streaming blood from rents in her arms and legs. In the astral, there's a black tracery of power, fading only slightly in the moments afterwards, a hazy outline of the girl and the man where they'd been standing when she touched him.
BishopMcQ
A growl builds deep in Mato's throat, rumbling through his chest with a deep bass. Fire bursts from the tips of his fingers and crawls up the length of his forearm.

"Now, you burn."

With the creeping flame, the avalanche turns into a torrent of wind howling through mountain passes. Agile and deadly.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Samael's eyes go wide with shock at the sudden rush of flame up the big man's arms, but suddenly the fear seems to melt away. He settles, tension draining from his shoulders as he draws the weapon close to his body, the now strangely stiff accessory held up in a classic high guard position.

"Your end comes rushing towards you writhed in fire and ice...the unseen beast will rend your body even as the flames consume your soul." The ghoul is murmuring to himself, the words clearly intended for no one else. Oddly, though, they have the distinct tone of a memory, something repeated so often it's become an item of rote memory.

Inside the building, blood rushes from one of the men's facemask as he pulls it free of his face to clear it, coughing up even more as he glares at Babs and Ama.

"Frag you," he growls through a mouthful of blood, and there's a soft tinkle of metal as several of the pins on the man's belt spring loose and clatter to the floor, red warning lights blinking softly. With a shout, the man to his left pulls himself up off the floor, dropping his own grenade in the process, and stumbles for the door, barely managing to clear it. Clearly aware of what had happened despite having his back to the man, the one that had been fighting with Ama turns as well, shoulders hunched as he ignores her to bolt for the door. The last man in the room, acutely aware that he is, indeed, the last man in the room, edges back towards the door, gun lifted and ready to fire at whichever of them ran forward.

Out front, Samael leaps forward, bringing the blade whipping around in a fluid two-handed strike at the big man looming above him.

"So be it! If death comes for me today, my Mistress will not see me shy away from her embrace!"
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

As the ghoul leaps forward, Mato settles into it. One flaming arm goes up, catching Samael's wrist and deflecting the blow. His other arm pulled back prepared to strike.

"Slow like prey."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
"GRENADES!"

She yells towards Mato not certain if the shifter was going to come back into the building. She lets her assailant run away uncontested as she drops the shuriken from her hand and pitches herself forward into a one handed cartwheel where her empty hand falls at the handle of her discarded sai. She grips it and brings her feet forward as she runs towards Babs.

"Go limp!"

She yells her only instruction to the driver as she runs her shoulder into her midsection and brings her up off the ground and wrapping her forearms across her back as she turns slightly to run up the stairs to the next floor.

Better to fall than be buried.....

She reaches the top and moves away from the stair well to prevent them from being caught in the updraft of the imminent explosion when those grenades went off.
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

With flames wreathing his body, the large man lumbers closer. His arms sweep wide in a crushing gesture. The bear's feet are steady and solid, preparing to turn and hurl the wolves off of him and shatter their spines on trees.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Babs seems a little taken back by the sudden speed and strength of the slim woman, but she relaxes as much as she's able, shotgun dangling from one hand as she's swept up the stairs by Ama's magically aided speed.

In front, Samael fights with increasing desperation, blade flashing a wicked pattern of astrally present thrusts and parries, his entire reality focused in the moment on keeping the massive man's hands off him again. It's obvious, then, that he has no idea of what's happening as the concussive roar of the combined explosions of the multiple grenades detonated simultaneously blow out the windows and then the walls on the entire lower floor, a wall of fire rushing over Mato and blowing the smaller figure back against the car, charring the fine suit and leaving his burned body to fall to the ground.

The various men are all consumed or blown around, and Amy is sent tumbling like a ragdoll, only partially protected by her location and distance.

Smoke billows from the blown out walls and other new openings in the apartment structure, and there's a crash inside as interior walls and structures collapse under the onslaught of time, neglect, and explosions. The whole structure tilts alarmingly and slumps, leaning notably from straight as things crash around inside. With a shudder and a groan, the structure settles, smoke slowly clearing in the light breeze drifting down the street, showing a section of the Barrens suddenly clear of it's normal population of down-trodden and opportunistic denizens.
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
Falling to the ground in a heap with the cabby driver, she untangles herself from Babs as dust and small debris continues to fall from the ceiling above them. She puts the weapons away as she rises to her feet.

"We should leave as soon as possible. I don't know how long this structure will keep standing."

She talks over her shoulder to her as she begins to carefully pick her way down the stairs back to the floor below. Moving cautiously and invoking the magic within her own flesh - lightening her step so it left barely an impression on the materials she walked across. Hopefully, it would stand a better chance supporting her with way. She reaches the floor below and looks around to see if there is anything left to salvage from the bodyguards. She calls out to her only friend it seemed now.

"Mato! Can you hear me? Are you alright?"
BishopMcQ
Mato and Ama

"I am here. Many are hurt."

With a vicious slash, Mato tears at Samael's throat. The flames sear through flesh. As the flames die away, he picks up the odd sword the man had used. He begins lumbering toward the building, a ponderous mass in search of survivors.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

The floor shifts precariously behind Ama as Babs picks her notably less-light path down the stairs, shotgun still held at the ready.

"Ah don't know eitha', it wasn't 'zactly in great shape before the explosion, ya know?" She lets out a small sigh of relief as she catches sight of Mato and rushes forward, reaching up to brush dirt and debris off the big man's shoulder.

"Good grief, you about got blown up, hone-" Her voice catches abruptly as she watches the last of the scrapes and small burns twist and fade away, leaving the man's skin completely unblemished beneath the small rents in the clothing.

"I...I mean, ahh....."

Throwing aside a small pile of rubble and the bodies of at least one of Samael's men, Amy's body is revealed and pulled free, though the ganger is severely wounded.

In small groups, twos and threes mostly, another dozen of the gangers, including Joey, carefully trickle down from the upper floors of the apartment building, gathering outside on the street in front of the leaning building in the growing darkness, looked dazed and confused.

UmaroVI
Boots

"It's not your fault, Sean - but we still have a responsibility to set things right. I'll look at Block's apartment and see what I can find. You see what you can do on the Matrix. I don't know how we can find Bea's body, but we can't just leave her without a proper funeral. Let's start with Block for now."

With that, Boots headed astrally to Block's old apartment to take a look around and see what could be seen from the Astral plane.
Fenris
Boots

The trip back to Block's apartment is a familiar one - the group was close, and met here regularly for planning and partying. Located in one of the expansive apartment buildings around Casino Corner® in Everett, the apartment building was notable more for it's access to some of the nearby harder vices, like bunraku parlors and BTL dens, that were slowly springing up in the area.

The apartment itself is warded by an opaque sheet of rippling black glass in the astral, barred from your access by someone's magic. However, Block's apartment was somewhere you'd been before, and it was the work of only a moment to leap into Alfheim and back.

The interior was different, that was obvious even in the astral. Full of furnishings now, vaguely seen in the grey scale shadows of the astral plane, it was a surprising change from the few sticks of cheap, mass produced furniture it had contained before. Two pictures on the walls are visible as bright swirls in the astral, some element of them actually live and worked in fantastic whirls and eddies.
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

Seeing the wreckage, Mato sighs. There was so much death and this tragedy would not leave a good mark upon those who lived here or in the surrounding areas. He tosses weapons into a pile as he pulls the wounded and the dead out from under rubble.

"Friend Babs, I am spirit guard for my tribe. Totem. Hurting not last on my skin."

He picks up the talking-boxes from each of the people that Samael brought with him. The rest of their gear is left on them in a pile. Lifting Samael into the back of the SUV, Mato removes the other items that he had seen before in the astral.

"That one has sick flesh. Make you sick by touching him. These ones not sick. You take what you need, we take bodies to crow and coyote."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
Making her way to the street and seeing her lone companion in this world alive, she feels something uncoil in her chest that she was even aware was there. She nods to the lumbering warrior and begins to help him gather the commlinks from the men. She makes her way to Amy and looks her over, pausing a moment before deciding to speak.

"You can come with us. The choice is yours but you will need to stand on your own. I will not be your new master or keeper. If you come with us then you must be your own possession. Say goodbye to that life if you set yourself on this path."

She turns and look for Babs to make sure she cleared the wreckage of the building before addressing the assembled squatters and gangers.

"I am leaving the weapons behind as an apology for your loss in this. I have given this woman the choice to come with us I ask you respect her choice and leave further bloodshed for another day."

She looks over them once to make sure they heard her and understand what is being offered before gesturing for Babs and Mato to gather close to talk privately.

"What did you mean taking the bodies to crow and coyote Mato?"
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

"They are ghostwalkers--people without tribe. Do not praise these dead, do not eat these dead. The crow and coyote eat not-holy dead things. If meat stays here, the smell make the tribe sick. Better to give to eaters of dead and bone-gnawers.

"The sick flesh should be burned. Not good for crow and coyote. Ashes feed tree and bush."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
She nods as he speak understanding now his statement and intent with gathering the bodies for transport. After he finishes speaking she turns to Babs.

"I have no right to ask this but clearly you care for Mato and I have few options at this point. We need some place to dump these bodies as he wishes and then a safe location to think things through. Can you help us?"
Fenris
Babs hesitates for a moment at the question, but she seems to make some sort of internal decision as she glances at Mato and then back to Ama.

"Well, it's da' least I can do, since ya' saved my life and all! I don't quite know about places to dump bodies, but I know some people." She glances down the street as she talks, and the sound of an engine comes from somewhere distant. She stares off into the distance as the sound grows closer, her brows furrowing for a moment before smoothing back out, moments before her cab comes rolling around the corner, swerving to avoid the wrecked SUV and pulling up as close to the curb as it can.

"Alright, I gotta friend, he'll send some people out. He owes me a few favors anyhows. We ready ta' roll?"

Looking at Ama, Amy's face looks flustered at the woman's previous comments, the setting aside of lives and being out on her own. She takes a few hesitant steps backwards, but then screws up her face in resolve and steps towards Ama.

"That's not good enough. I can stay here and be my own master, as you put it. I need options, and I need to learn...to know how to control it. If you won't do that, I'm not any better off following you than I am staying here."
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
A look of irritation passes over her face at Amy's declaration as she struggles to understand the woman's position and situation. Her voice is tight and controlled as she replies.

"There is no good enough here. I will teach you if you can be taught but I will not be responsible for you. I do not know what has given you your magic and until I do that is the best I can offer. Choose to remain here and live out this excuse of a life or reach out and take the power given. Without training the gift you have been given will consume you, it must be used or it will use you."

As she speaks she packs what few items she is taking then begins to help Mato to load the remaining bodies into the cars.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Amy's face screws up in frustration as Ama begins to speak again, but the look is abruptly replaced by a wash of relief, and she nods.

"Not asking you to change my diapers, it's just...like you said, the magic thing. I don't wanna be consumed." That said, she turns and begins stripping gear off one of the bodies, dumping a pile of gear matter-of-factly into the footwell of the black SUV Ama is loading.

Babs looks concerned as Ama and Mato stop loading bodies into the trunk, and she puts a hand on Mato's huge shoulder with a grin.

"Don't sweat it, hun. I got good people. Vinne's got some guys that are gonna come down here and take care of them. I don't know where you're from...I mean, besides the desert, or whatever, but around here, ya' can't drive around with bodies in your trunk if you're not going to burn the vehicle shortly thereafter. I'm betting these boys weren't rolling around with hot vehicles, and it's prolly going to be a while before anyone notices they're missing, so you might as well keep it while you can. I can help you wipe if it if you wanna make it a long-term type possession."
UmaroVI
Block's Apartment

It sure looks like someone else lives here - but maybe they know something.

Boots started poking around the apartment, looking for anything of interest and in particular for signs that the place had a regular inhabitant - fresh garbage, dirty laundry, and the like.
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
She pauses and listens to Babs with a slow dawning of understanding spreading across her face. She turns to Mato as she speaks.

"We can leave the bodies here and her friends will see that they are given to Crow and Coyote. We don't need to bring them us and it will keep things simpler."

She unloads what bodies had been taken into the car like they were unwanted luggage but hesitates over Samael's body. She looks to Babs and nods towards Mato while speaking.

"This body we should take. Care must be taken in disposing of it. It should be burned completely. Amy is there a place where we can burn this body?"
Fenris
Boots

You sniff around, figuratively, at least, through the dim shadows of the items on the astral. There's a haze where most of the items in the real world are - they hadn't been in their current places very long, not long enough to build up any kind of a charge. Staring at just the shadowy remnants of items, unable to move anything, its hard to get any details at all from the apartment.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ama and Mato

Amy gives a rough laugh as she piles equipment into the SUV.

"It's not like ya' havta look far..." She points at the rusted hulk of an obviously burned out car just down the street. "Pretty much anywhere around here is fair game. You wanna contain the ashes and stuff, there's empty dumpsters in some of the alleys. I'd light it and leave. Not like the cops are watching."
UmaroVI
Boots

Boots quickly grew frustrated with searching the apartment. He tried outside - looking to see if people were coming or going, and if so how many and what type of people - in particular, anyone who seemed like they might own the building or know the tenants. He also checked back to Block's former apartment a few times, looking to see if the tenant was back.

Planning ahead, he also looked for something inside the apartment that was less dull and dead than most of it and would be easier to access from the Astral.
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
She nods and turns back to Babs and the massive bear-man.

"Let's move a distance and burn this body here since it's not a note worthy event and then go to wherever Babs suggests?"

As she talks she begins to look over the commlinks they have collected to see how secured they were and to see if the car was tied to one or not.
Fenris
Boots

The flow of people outside the apartment is fairly frantic, the 24-hour casinos and parlors and restaurants providing a steady stream of comers and goers, emotions ranging from wildly cheerful to darkly depressed. It's impossible to pick out anyone that might be an owner or even an employee without having a better idea of the layout or being able to see the uniforms.
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
Sliding into the front seat of the SUV, she reaches behind and removes the small tool kit built into her gear. Unrolling it she begins to work on the car's wiring hoping to get it started.

"Give me a moment to get this car up and running."
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

Seeing the tools, Mato turns his head slightly in a gesture of non-comprehension.

"Talk to it. Samael did not use those things. The woman in the metal-wagon said he need to close door to go home."
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Still fussing over Mato's damanged clothing, Babs glances over, peering curiously into the SUV as Ama works. Giving Mato a final, affectionate pat, she moves to her cab and rummages under the front seat, coming up with a battered looking case and walking up to where Ama was working.

"If ya like, Ah can take a look at it. I don't steal cars regular-like, but I know enough to get things moving, I think." she says, glancing at Mato with a quick look of concern, obviously worried about how the big man might take the admission.

She squeezes into the SUV next to Ama, building on the work the girl had already done and just pointing out a few more areas that she thought might have given the girl problems.

"You can see heya how they left the factory pins in right here, which makes it easy to...unf, pop them if you know what to look for." A few minutes work has the guts of the car exposed, and a few minutes under the hood has the SUV coughing to life and growling quietly at the curb.

Amy rubs thin hands up and down her skinny arms as she glances around. "We should get going, guys. This place isn't any friendlier at night."

-------------------------------------------------------

Boots

The hours pass slowly, ticking along as you sit in the dead and empty apartment. With a bang, the door is thrown open at the room is filled with raucous laughter and shouting. Three men pile into the room, stumbling and weaving a bit, and you immediately recognize one of the aura's as Block, the wide-shouldered formori laced with the familiar streaks of red and black that had always permeated his aura. His guests sprawl on some of the expensive furniture as Block heads back into the kitchen and retrieves drinks from a cooler

"So, I told him that I didn't give a drek if it had been his dying grandmother that stole his shit, he was gonna have to own up, and if he didn't have it within the next three days, I was gonna start taking fingers like those Yakuza guys do." one of them rambled.

"You always knew how to run your guys, Bosco. That's why I gave you that promotion when I made it up the ladder. You keep them stupid slitches in line, and we'll keep raking in the nuyen." Block handed the man who'd been speaking one of the items in his hand, and the dim outlines of their physical forms all took a blurry pull at their respective bottles.
BishopMcQ
Ama and Mato

"Will the woman in the metal wagon take us to place where we stir the dump as Amy said? After that to friendly place?"

Mato climbs into the backseat of SUV, the shocks adjusting to his weight. He holds the buckle firmly and steadily while using his other hand to pull the seatbelt across, like a child who has recently learned to do the task for himself.

"We should also make the wagon-wind warmer. It grows cold for our new tribesman."

Buddha72
Ama and Mato
She nods with a sincere look of gratitude on her face.

"Thank you. I must admit doing these tasks in the real life is more challenging then when I was taught."

She motion to Amy to get in to the vehicle and repacks her tools and places the kit back into her utility pack. She listens to Mato, the effort of translating his requests apparent on her face. She nods to him acknowledging his request before turning to Amy.

"Nearest place to burn the one body?"

As she speaks she climbs into the driver seat of the SUV and buckles herself in. Taking a moment to adjust the various settings for her ease of use with the vehicle.
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Babs face falls into disappointment briefly as Mato climbs into the SUV, but it quickly draws back up into a small, forced smile as she turns and climbs into the cab. The vehicle seems to welcome her touch and presence, rumbling to life and cycling briefly through lights and doorlocks as she checked the various systems.

Inside the black SUV with Ama and Mato, Amy pointed up the street.

"Up three blocks, and take a right. There's an old storefront there, got burned out a few months ago during a firefight. Not much left, but it's a burned out space where nobody lives, and there's wood that will burn."

The cab pulls out behind the trio as Ama directs the vehicle into the street and around the wreck of the other SUV. Faint lights flicker behind boarded over windows as night falls in the Barrens, filling what had previously just been desolate streets with hoards of concealing shadows and hungry, stark edges. Amy's directions lead you to a small storefront from what had probably been a liquor store before the Barrens had descended into a wasteland. Sure enough, the entire front of the shop is collapses, scorched black and obviously burned, thought whatever it was must have been hot and fast, for there's still a notable amount of interior wood planks inside the shop, remnants from when building materials weren't all synthetic and extruded materials.
Buddha72
Ama and Mato
Feeling the tension slowly unwind from around her body as she exits the SUV and makes her way to the rear to pull out the one body to dispose of. She moves the body from the back and places it in the center of the burnt out from before. She calmly unfolds the bow from her back and locks it into position. She draws a single arrow and breathes in deeply, waiting for a moment before releasing the breath along with the arrow that buries itself into the corpse's center mass. The chest begins to smolder and smoke as flames begin to to burn out from the cavity.

Stowing the bow back in it's collapsed state on her gear frame, she quickly gathers material from around the store and begins to create a funeral pyre of sorts around the ghoul. Grabbing what looks like it will burn hot and strong, she covers the body to ensure it burns as much as possible. The turmoil that rolled around her head was diminished for the moment - she had tasks and a plan. Find a safe place and begin to reconstruct what happened. She had left her teachers behind and her oaths to be embraced by the kami, by Izanami as she was called to. Something has changed and now she was struggling to know what it all meant. She heard the whispers and their dictate but was this a test to joining the sisters or did something go wrong and she had a new enemy now working against her and her ascension.

Pulling the thoughts and emotions back, she looked over the burning and smoking body of what was the mystery of her present situation. She pushed it all aside and bent her thoughts to the next step - shelter and safety. She walks back and gets back into the SUV.

"Ok, we can go some where safe now please."
Fenris
Ama and Mato

Amy gives a hesitant look at Ama as she steps away from the pyre. The girl had watched intently at the steps, moving her mouth in quiet motions that made those that notice suspect she was trying to memorize something.

"I don't...I don't know anywhere safe. Not without a gang." she stutters, and Babs pats the girl's shoulder, and turns to lean back against her cab, arms crossed over her chest as she looks at the burning body.

"Ah know someone but it's gonna cost us money or favors to get a safe place if we need it more than a night or two." She glanced up at Mato, and then over at Ama. "If you guys have friends, that might be a better bet that doesn't cost us anything?
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