Saturday 8 June 2075 1715 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya nods. "It is alright to be a bit wary, Peter. After all, we have known each other less than a week and here I am telling you that I am in love with you. If I were not the one experiencing it, I would be wary of me. I can accept your definition of "like", as it sounds suspiciously like what everyone else would say is a pretty textbook definition of love. If you think about me a lot, want to be near me, enjoy the carnal pleasure of me, want to be at my side and share stories and ideas.............................well, if that is just like, I absolutely cannot wait to hear how you define love. And I would not get too hung up on any past relationships. They HELP define you but they are not the real meter stick to measure your future against. For all of your protestations, I have found you, on the whole, to be witty, charming, knowledgeable, very smart, and tremendous in the sack. Or in an alley or even a hayloft, which we do not need to replicate. It is those qualities you should focus on, not the negative ones."

She rises a bit to look down the length of your body. "My God, you look great laying next to me. An Adonis if I have ever seen one. Hmmmm. I wonder................."

She moves her body to position her head near your waist and slips her mouth around you, giving you a mind numbing blowjob.

* Oleg: I'm never going to get any work done at this rate. How does the woman find the energy for all this play as well as work?
* Monkey: When in Rome ...
* Coleman: It has been hours and I've not even started plotting revenge on Howard. Time is wasting.
* Monkey: Oh, revenge is good too!

Afterward, once his mind had re-assembled itself, he said "I hope I won't seem ungrateful or insensitive, but I have a change of topic. Screwing over Howard as thoroughly as is safe to do. I understand that your usual activities are untraceable, sometimes people may not even know that they've been hit, or aren't clear on when. I'm not sure what you exactly were planning for him, but I want it to hurt. I'm fine with him not knowing who did it, or maybe even when or how it happened, but I'd be delighted to see him laughed at in society, his patronage scorned, maybe even his precious inheritance damaged."

Smiling coldly he added "Not only is he personally odious, he was was offensive and hurtful to someone I lo ... care about, very, very, much. And apparently I'm a vindicative bastard when it comes to people I care about. So, please let me know what your limits are in this operation. I'll respect those limits. Then there is a lot of work and planning to do."

(posted for Mercy)

Saturday 8 June 2075 1730 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle



Tanya stretches out lazily beside you and plops an arm across your chest as she snuggles in close. “It is sad that we need to talk about Howard, but I suppose it must be done, if only to allow you to get your mind back on what is really important here. Howard’s demise is already in the works and has been from before I met you. In fact, it is the reason behind why I met you. He is very proud of his collection of ancient Chinese pottery vases, which is quite extensive, according to some I have talked to who have seen it. He is particularly interested in one specific collection, but will buy other pieces if he likes them. Howard likes to shows the collection off to women he is interested in shagging and I hear that there is quite the love nest available for such antics.”

“He ran through his considerable inheritance some years ago but found an alternative funding source in the Yakuza accounts he manages for his primary client. My estimate is that he has spent several millions in Yak money in pursuing this dream of his and I intend to cash in on that, so to speak. Some months ago, I bought two very nice pottery vases and had some markings changed on them to have them appear to be some of the pieces he is missing from his collection. My intent was to have them slipped into a shipment that he was buying, but the timing did not work out well for that. I have already sent an anonymous note to Howard’s Yak boss that he has spent a huge amount of stolen Yak funds on fake pottery and is planning on leaving the country soon with the money he has stolen. I understand that the Yaks have arranged a meeting with him for next Saturday to inspect the pottery.”

“So, all is in place except for the fakes. Howard will be off shagging his new mistress on Tuesday night and I intend to insert my fakes then, with your help. I have a team that is in the process of getting me the security codes for the alarm systems he uses to protect his collection. It would have been nice to have wrangled an invite to the room, but we can do this without that.”

Tanya stops talking for a moment then adds, “So, can you see any flaws in my brilliant plan and will you help me on Tuesday? And did I hear something else in what you were saying?”

With that, she lifts her body enough for her face to reach yours and begins kissing you at the same time that her hand is taking charge of another part of your anatomy. She stops kissing long enough to grin at you and say, “In any case, there is indeed a lot of work and planning still to do and I think that we should get straight to that, right after I get something else straight and then used up again. I am afraid that I am particularly ravenous where you are concerned. Can you really blame me?”

Saturday 8 June 2075 1730 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


"Oh."

* Coleman: Sounds quick and effecient
* Monkey: But there isn't enough time in that plan for savoring the details of how clever I am and how he'll suffer
* Liza: She is pleased to share this news, it would be best to provide a positive response.
* Gamma: I think that I feel that this is less my revenge than me being a cog in a larger machine. An important cog, but it makes it less personal. Apparently I savour a personal element in my revenge, given that I feel disapointment despite the effect being larger than I could have hoped for.
* Oleg: I should stop being a whiny child, upset because he got what he wanted too easily.
* Liza: It is disturbing when Oleg is the sensible side of me.

"I ... guess that is good news. Just give me a moment to shift mental gears, I was shifting into planning mode and I need to shift back out."

* Monkey: Sex, or plotting destruction? They are both good!
* Gamma: At times like these I am reminded that I am not a good person.
* Monkey: I just had sex, and I haven't plotted against anyone in almost two months. But sex is always good ...
* Coleman: Trusting others is always risky. Vital, but I'll want to understand these plans at the least.
* Monkey: I wonder if plotting and planning sex would be a way of combining both pleasures into one?
* Oleg: This all feels too easy. Am I sure she isn't setting me up to take the fall?
* Monkey: No, sex is better than planning sex, but destruction isn't as good as planning destruction. Oook-ook, I'm a philosopher!
* Liza: Tanya is less broody than I am. I think she'd see brooding as a negative thing. Boring, not stimulating. Maybe thoughts happen so fast for her that she doesn't need to brood?
* Monkey: But plotting destruction might make for better sex!

"I'm beginning to understand that you can have several things going on in your head at once -- and that sex if very often one of them. I tend to be more single track. And sometimes that track needs to be something productive, and me being productive has historically meant me planning and preparing to ruin someone's life. I'm actually fairly experienced and good at it. And I'm afraid that right now that train has started rolling, and I'm going to have to follow it for a bit before I can clear the track for other things. Sorry, I make a terrible boy toy in that way."

Saturday 8 June 2075 1732 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle



Tanya collapses in a heap on your chest before rolling off. “Oh, Pooh. How can you resist my charms like that? Oh, well, I guess one of us has to be the responsible one. So, shower then eat then plan.” She looks you in the eye to see if you might change your mind than shakes her head and leaves the bed, muttering something under her breath. The shower is all that you remember it to be and you luxuriate in the hot water for a good bit of time.

When you finish drying off and return to the bedroom, you see that someone has laid out some clothes for both of you on the bed and Tanya laughs. “It seems Monique agrees with your planning bit. Try the clothes, but if she is as good as I know she is, those will fit you perfectly. Very well, let’s get dressed and see what she has set up for us to eat. After that, it is off to the planning room for us.” The clothes do indeed fit you perfectly.

When you are both ready, Tanya takes your arm and walks out to the living area, where Monique has set up some food for you in the dining room. As you go to the table, you can see the maid off in the kitchen. The food on the table seems to be of the light snack type than substantial meal and Tanya sits down to eat happily. “Mmmm. This is quite good, whatever it is. Be sure to try some.” She calls out. “Monique, you have outdone yourself on this, Cherie. Thank you.”

Monique appears in the dining room. “Thank you, My Lady, I am glad that you find favour in it.”

“Find favour? It is delicious. Now, afterwards, we are going into the planning room. Can you please have some tea and coffee there.” Tanya looks at you. “Cream, sugar, lemon, milk? Which do you prefer with coffee or tea?”

After eating some, Tanya idly waves a piece of perfectly browned toast at you. “Now, please do not just accept what I have sketched out because I expect that there are flaws. Monique and I have been known to fight like cats and dogs over parts of a plan and I am used to using our disagreements to make the plan better. I want you to tell me what is wrong and what is right and give me recommendations that will help us do this and stay alive. This should be as much your plan as mine.”

"First, I have to say that somehow you are at least as sexy if not sexier like this than sprawled across the bed." Then he covers his mouth, too late, and looks at Monique -- "sorry, I didn't mean to say that in front of you."

With a totally straight face Monique replies "Wait until you see her in the middle of a burglary, M'sieu."

Preston nearly chokes at that.

* Monkey: Ook! Ook! I like this image!
* Coleman: the woman is good, that is a distraction I need to be prepared to deal with
* Oleg: no proper servant would be so pert
* Liza: that though pre-supposes that there is any expectation that she be 'a proper servant.'

Preston bobs his head at Monique and acknowledges "A hit,a very palpable hit." To Tanya he adds "And I'm glad she warned me. Indeed I'll need to be on my guard against distraction from that!"

Back to Monique he adds "I'm fine with black coffee. Apparently the Turks have, or had, a saying '“coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.' At least that is what it said on one of the walls in the coffee shop I worked in for a time when I was younger. But I guess it is good I'm not Turkish as I never did come to like sweet coffee."

As they walk into the planning room he returns to the task in front of them. "So far I've not done a lot of investigating -- I seem to have been busy for some reason." he grins goofily at Tanya. "But I did some very preliminary looking at his property, learned that he is leacherous to everyone but nice and generous enough with some people that not everybody in his neighborhood will hate him, and have cultivated Amanda as a possible source of more information -- that last if and as needed. If I can avoid making it obvious that I'm planning on breaking into his house then that would be one less loose end, but if it is between risking that going in missing information that could be important ... we can discuss it IF that comes up."

* Oleg: Talking about one lover to another is bad manners
* Monkey: unless they were also lovers? Imagine Tanya's lips on Amanda's mountains?
* Gamma: I'm quite positive that I don't have the skills, emotional strength, or physical fortitude to manage that situation

"What I have so far is not enough to have even an inkling of a plan. Please hit me with what you have, then I'll do my best to poke holes in it -- and patch them. Over preparing can be deadly, but a certain amount of contingency planning is wise."

ETA: re-wrote the summary of what he'd found so far, after I went back and read those posts.

Saturday 8 June 2075 1800 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


After eating, Tanya walks with you to the door to the third bedroom and pushes a button to raise a panel in the wall. She makes use of a retinal scanner, a palm print, and a spoken sentence to access the room. Once inside, some light turn on and she walks to the center of the large conference table in the room. Sitting, she activates a console that rises from near her at the table, bringing up a 3-D holographic view of the house you recognize as Howard's from your own look-see. She adjusts the scale to get the hologram to include the outer wall and the gate, pointing to several locations along the wall. "These are cameras that give real-time surveillance of the walls surrounding the estate. They are tied wirelessly to a private security firm that is contracted to provide an armed response should anyone be caught trying to breach the wall. The cameras seem to rotate to provide coverage."

She expands the hologram, focusing on the exterior of the mansion. "The doors and windows are secured and monitored by motion sensors from inside each room. These are also tied to the same security company. Once inside there is still the location of the hidden display room and the codes to get past any security the door and the room will have."

She turns to you. "Ideas? First, how would you get past the wall?"

* Coleman: that is a tactical question, and we haven't yet talked strategy
* Oleg: Nor have we talked about whether we are going to carry on like common burglars!
* Coleman: that is part of the strategic question.
* Liza: It would be respectful to answer her question before going off topic, and to trust her to cover both aspects.
* Monkey: And the answer of course is to climb behind her, for a good aspect on her ass-ets, ook-ook!
* Gamma: In all fairness, the fact that I haven't scouted the matrix security does not look good on me, but it is a vital part of the answer.
* Coleman: OK then, nominal tactical, tactical considerations, then strategic issues.

Preston frowned for a few moments, then explained his hesitation "That is a more complex question than it appears on the surface, I think. I'll start with the simple answer, but that leads into other considerations."

He moved around the projection a bit, looking a little more carefully at a couple of points, then started in "Nominally the plan is to hack 'enough' cameras to provide a blind spot or moving blind spot, and feed them a loop of what they've just shown. Get over the wall quickly using the blind spot, and try to pick a route from the wall to the house that is protected from the cameras - they probably have better coverage on the outside than the inside. There are some trees and shrubs in the yard, that gazebo, unless there is extra cameras inside the yard we might be able to map something out."

Preston straightens up and looks away from the projetion, staring into space for a moment as he martials his thoughts. "Several levels of considerations. Tactically, about the cameras, unless the agent monitoring the feed is very expensive it isn't going to be monitoring the feed for realistic variations at a small scale, so a loop is usually good for quite a while, except around dawn and dusk where light levels change quickly, there the loop may well get picked up on more quickly, making getting out more likely to be hard."

"A bigger problem is the hack, however. The problem with multiple cameras is that each of them has to be hacked seperately, else you need to hack what is monitoring them. IF the security was set up competently and is maintained worth a frag, there are enough cameras there to provide redundant coverage, so it would be at least two hacks, with twice the chance of setting off an alarm. IF the house's security were gathered to a computer in the house and then sent to the security company there would be a chance to take it all down at once, but it sounds like everything goes direct to the security company -- and I doubt I'm up to hacking their node. Plugging directly into a camera would make the hack easier, but I don't see a way of doing that without being seen. They have nice depth to the security there It is possible to get through, but there are real risks."

"To be honest, I don't have a lot of experience with quiet break and enter. In the bounty hunting game we usually tried to catch people on the move, and if we had to flush them out it was usually go in hard and fast, just trying to take out locks and not worrying so much about being stealthy. And then they changed the matrix while I was busy rotting my brain, and I've been having to re-learn how to hack things, and to do it really well you need a deck these days, which I don't have."

He tries to give an encouraging smile, although he's afraid it may come out as a grimace. "All of which makes me wonder if we can avoid the whole wall issue, and get invited inside? Not by Howard now, more's the pity, but a place that size must have some sort of staff. If you don't already have the info that is something I might be able to get from Amanda. Can we run a deception on them, then knock-them out without setting off the security? Or in the absence of staff, hack ourselves sufficient credentials to make it look like we are legitimate entrants to the house? Frag, even get delivered in a big package -- that is probably silly, but any layers of security that we can bypass, that is a good thing."

"Sadly I'm sure Howard has gone through enough mistresses that it is unlikely that Amanda has any credentials that would give her any degree of access, but again I might be able to at least understand the security system and what to expect inside more. And she has been in to the secret room so hopefully she has some info about where the entrance is and what he did to open it."

He finally paused his monologue, but just when Tanya thought it was safe to say something, Preston found one more thing to say "I'm going to say this once more, to get it off my chest, then I'll shut up about it. This whole being stealthy thing is a pain! My first thought on the secret door was 'grab a mono-filement chainsaw and just start cutting up the wall until we find what is door, and then cut a hole into that, and never worry about what clever trick there is for opening it. Works great for cracking open a bolt-hole you need to get someone out of. Useless in this situation, but just making it clear that my experience is more around the careful application of violence and force than cat burglary."

posted for Mercy
=================

Tanya nods after listening to your concerns. “Very nice, Peter. I have some of the same concerns and you have confirmed them for me. Yes, I believe that the cameras on the outside will be our greatest problem as well. Is it possible to find out which cameras cover the zone I want to enter through and then take them one or two at a time to cover my movement in the arc of view and then let them go back to normal control?”

“I have assets inside the house that I do not want compromised as I have another use for them coming up and want to leave no possible way for them to be connected to the cameras. I intend to go in at night so that precludes any use of a ruse to effect entrance. I need this to be as seamless as possible. These contacts will provide us with the access codes for the interior alarms. However, I am not against doubling up on my chances, so by all means go see Amanda if you think she can help you. With the proper codes, I can get into the house and the display room. What I still need is a way past the exterior security, and you are going to provide me with that. I have every confidence in you, Peter.”

She pauses and nods to Monique, who stands up and goes to a cabinet that opens in the wall, returning with a small attaché case. Tanya smiles and says, “This is for you, Peter. If you like it, you may purchase it from your share of what we get from selling the vase we are going to steal. I expect that you will need to purchase some software to go with it and there is a card inside the case with the contact information of a good friend of mine who should be able to help you out in that regard. I think this should help you with one of your problems.”

Opening the case, you find a new Sony CIY-720 cyberdeck. “All you have to do to make it yours is give a thumbprint and a retinal scan for the security system.” Monique hands you a green pad with an ocular receptacle near the top and connects it to the case with a short cable.

Tanya looks closely at you. “Being stealthy is always a pain, but I am a firm believer that violence is a last resort. I am fully prepared to use direct means when it is called for, and that may indeed be the case here, but I would prefer that we at least look for the indirect means first. Your words have been heard and understood. I think you will find that working this way is so much more exciting and rewarding.”

"I, uh, ...." Preston trailed off as he stared at the 'deck, eventually adding "You know, I don't even know the specs on that thing. I've oggled decks for a while, but nothing half that powerful."

* Oleg: Oof, too nice, I'm bound to disappoint her
* Gamma: Tanya?
* Oleg: Her too.
* Gamma: So the deck is a she?
* Oleg: Tradition says that anything that beautiful is 'she.'
* Monkey: If I took the Jazz maybe I could keep up with this gorgeous machine
* Gamma: No, never on the drugs again.
* Monkey: Oh, OH! A deck like this, it can do hot sim!!!!! I can bathe in the glory again!!!!
* Oleg: No, no, frag no. Hot Sim is worse than The Jazz. A man who can't bear to unplug from the net isn't a man anymore.
* Monkey: Who cares about being a man? Hot sim makes biology obsolete!
* Gamma: I'm pretty sure Tanya would prefer that I keep functioning as a man.
* Monkey: .... That isn't a fair choice

Preston realized that he didn't know how long he'd been standing there, silent. "Look, sorry, you're going to have to repeat that last part, I got lost in my own thoughts. And I should probably tell you, I'm not sure about buying into this sweetness. I ... need to see if I can trust myself with ready access to hot sim. I've been out of it for most of a year, but in part I managed that by getting rid of any device that would let me go there. I think I can manage it, but isn't that what they all say? It is hard to put into words how amazing things can be in hot sim, I still think about it every day, having to resist the temptation every day is ... a risk."

But then he looks up at Tanya, a grin stealing over his face and his eyes almost glowing "But man I'm looking forward to putting this thing through its paces!"

Saturday 8 June 2075 1800 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya looks at you carefully. "Peter, I trust you and I believe in you. I know that you are able to be there to help me and that you can resist the allure of hot sim. Just take it one step at a time and we will be just fine."

"Now, it is Saturday evening. How much time will you need to get familiar with this thing? I am sure that you will need some software, but I did not want to just buy that without knowing what you think you need. Our timeline is pretty straightforward; we need to go into the house on Tuesday night Wednesday morning. What do you think you need to do between now and then and do you want to do it here or at your place?"

Preston sounds a little distracted as he answers, thoughts already diving into the real and virtualworld challenges. "That is possible. It will be busy. Wherever is fine. Actually here would be good if you can deal with me not being very responsive, if I can presume on your or Monique to make food and caff appear occasionally and to pound on me until I make time to consume it."

* Oleg: Not being a very good guest or companion, whatever I'm supposed to be, when I'm in VR
* Coleman: She wants this timeline, she can help make it happen.

"For sure programs, I'll have to put some thought into those, there are a few different approached I can go for. And probably an agent. A couple of hardware modules, too -- it is OK if I make some adjustments to this baby, right? I'd like to hardwire in an extra program carrier to max out what I can run."

* Liza: Best to be clear about limits up front
* Monkey: But I don't want to disappoint her!
* Coleman: Always best to clearly communicate operational constraints

"I'll need to scout the security host and the cameras before then, find out how good they are. The problem with this sort of hacking isn't getting started, it is keeping it up. That's how matrix security works these days. That's why I like locks -- open the lock, kick the door open, then you don't have to worry about the lock anymore." He tries for a grin to show that he is being silly, but he's not focused enough to really pull it off.

"What I said before about looping the cameras, that is a layman term that I shouldn't have used -- you need to know the details of the limits here. Really it is an ongoing edit, have to keep beat its security constantly. There is always a chance of failing and alerting the security host, the host can spot me while I'm hanging around in there, and that sort of constant matrix action tends to call down GOD pretty quickly. If they are decent and I'm having to keep two cameras locked down, I may have less than twenty seconds before I need to log out or get demi-gods on my tail."

"In fact, thinking about it more, I should find another similar location that this security firm covers, with the same type of camera, and study it carefully, find out what degree of control there is on the cameras ... perhaps in a pinch I can command one to stop rotating or even re-boot, if you need more time and I'm out of time. Obviously that is not ideal on the way in, less of a factor on the way out. And I'll need to go by the house and study the cameras in a bit more detail to see if we can map a pattern that would not require two cameras being edited at all times, even a few seconds where we can have you just covered by one camera would help."

"And finally, I need to spend some time with this baby." He gives a goofy smile at the deck. "I did most of my hacking before the latest matrix re-build, and I haven't used good gear since then. I need the chance to stretch my wings a bit, get the rust off, learn the limits of what I'll be able to do now. Even in a few days I should be able to sharpen up a lot -- but that is where having someone make sure I unplug sometimes would be good."

* Liza: Be clear!

Preston clears his throat, then admits "Look, I'm not going to be very good at companionship the next few days. It is not just the joy of the amazing new machine -- honestly it doesn't have your curves! But it is a tight timeline and I'm serious about needing to spend time with it to be at my best by Tuesday night, and there are all those other things to take care of. Basically, I can't imagine you'd ever want a member of your team not being prepared because they couldn't keep their hands off their lover. So if I'm chasing after you, slap me away, please."

* Monkey: But its stress relief!

"Well, not saying never to some, well, whatever -- but, getting you out alive and not dodging knight errant allows for a lot more time in the future."

Saturday 8 June 2075 1805 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya looks at you and smiles. "Well, see? Already making progress. Keep worrying about the job, but do not kill yourself doing it. I will leave you to it while I work on other aspects of what I am doing. Be sure to let me know when you have figured out what sort of software you need and this agent thing. I will arrange with a source to get it for you, unless you have a source that you would rather use. Now, some tea for me and I will get working. Interrupt me if you need to."

She pours herself some tea from the pot that Monique brings in and starts playing with trivid representations of the house and some of the interior rooms. Monique appears to softly ask you if you would prefer coffee, tea, or something else. Once she gets that for you, she sits down and begins critiquing Tanya's work, batting ideas around between them. You can take your toy to the far end of the table where their talking is barely noticeable and begin playing with it.

Preston spends a few minutes going over the machine with naked eyes before even moving to AR, and even then he doesn't connect to it at first but rather starts going through the instructions. Eventually he has to engage with it to continue, but that is when he pauses for some coffee and a washroom break.

Returning he finally makes that connection, and can't help but shiver at the machine's sense of deadly efficiency -- not so much sports car as fighter jet. But he gets over it and moves on, making sure to learn all the control features. Still in AR it isn't too hard to get his attention when it is pointed out how late it is, and Tanya asks how late he thinks he'll be up.

* Monkey: The VR, just let's get into the VR tonight!
* Gamma: Once I'm in VR, tonight will quickly change into tomorrow night if I'm not careful
* Coleman: Sleep is vital to operational efficiency. There might be a crunch closer to deadline that I'll paper over with caff, but for now, sleep is still worth the lost time.
* Monkey: but ... but ... VR!

Preston smiles at Tanya and replies "Actually, now would be a good time to head to bed, especially if you are headed that way too." and to his surprise a natural grin happens without even needing to try and force it.

* Monkey: Oh, right, well that is OK too. Now if I could just get her to hot sim with me
* Gamma: NO

Saturday 8 June 2075 2319 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya smiles back at you. "Yes, I think I am ready for some sleep."

She looks at Monique and tells her that they are done for the night and the French girl stands and nods to both of you before leaving the room. Tanya yawns and stretches then holds out an arm for you. She leads you from the room and secures it with the panel outside the door before taking you to the bedroom, where she lazily undresses and crawls between the sheets. "May I cuddle with you, Peter?"

Saturday 8 June 2075 2319 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle

Preston nuzzles her neck a bit, then breaks enough to be able to say “For sure – but I think we’ve been very diligent little criminals this evening, my lungs are feeling much recovered, and I think I’m finally learning how to switch my attention more quickly. All of which is to say, ‘May I shag her ladyship?’” He emphasizes his point with a quick squeeze of her left thigh.

Before Tanya can even respond, he chuckles and adds “It is an incredible feeling, actually: focussing on the plan and the deck, but not being all consumed by them. That may yet happen, but I like this state -- I feel energized but open to the world, rather than in a tight, defensive, little coil of concentration. I think you’ve been good for me already.”

Saturday 8 June 2075 2320 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya smiles and tosses back the sheet holding out her arms. "Bloody right you can, Peter. I do hope that I am good for you for a very long time to come. Listen, do you mind if I ask you something first, though? I would like to make love with you. Sex is sex, but I want to experience someone making love with me. I will understand if you are not yet ready for that or think it will bring up problems and we can do as we have done so far. But if there is a chance......?"

"Nothing I'd like better. Monkey sex is great..."

* monkey: damn straight!

"... but I always thought my brain was my best trait. Delighted to have the time and focus to show you exactly how I feel about you."

* monkey: which would be even better in hot sim!
* gamma: I can block Monkey for a while, or it can shut up about hot sim and enjoy what is at hand.
* monkey: hey, boobies! Those are good too.
* Coleman: I start with kissing, patience and a slow build are key here.

Saturday 8 June 2075 2322 Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle


Tanya gives you all the time you need to fully explore her body and she takes her time to become intimately familiar with yours. There is no rush on her part and she lets you know what pleases and excites her and what sends her over the top. She is a woman of many needs and you can enjoy peeling her out of one layer at a time. You build her up in a series of crescendos and her first orgasm has her face tucked into your shoulder as she whimpers in release, her body trying to throw you off of her but the legs wrapped around you keeping you with her. Letting her down then starting all over is even more enjoyable the second time around and her second orgasm seems to ripple from deep inside her to explode against you as she calls out your name. Her fingernails find purchase on your back and she rakes you as she spasms uncontrollably in something that just seems to go on and on for some time. When she subsides, there are tears in her eyes and on on her face as she kisses your lips, eyes, and cheeks before collapsing underneath you. It takes several minutes for her to just get back to the ability to pant. "My God! Peter, thank you." She tries to brush away her tears, but more just keep coming. "Don't know why I am like this. Bloody hell. Sorry for crying, but I am so happy it hurts."

Sunday June 9 2075, 0630, Tanya's Suite Gates Undersound Hotel Seattle, Preston's apartment, and roads around Seattle

The next morning Preston is up and out early -- glad to have gotten to bed at a somewhat reasonable time and to have slept so well. He kisses Tanya and leaves an ARO saying "Chores to do, back late morning most likely, will be in touch to confirm"

The ride out to his apartment in Auburn is quick as it is Sunday morning. Once the cab is locked onto its route he takes time to send an ARO off to Amanda "Sorry I had to leave early yesterday, Howard is even more prickly than I'd realized. Your interpersonal skills are impressive, to have managed Him for as long as you did! I hope that he didn't make your life miserable after I left. Also sorry not to have gotten in touch last night to see how you were doing; I managed to have an asthma attack which left me rather distracted."

"Could you let me know if you're available for brunch today? I feel that a 'dump on Howard' session may be appropriate. I also had a couple of thoughts to bounce off of you that I'd rather discuss in person."

He doesn't know what time Amanda will be up at; if she marked the end of her association with Howard by getting trashed then brunch might turn into a later meeting, but he does hope that she is up for getting together today. He'd already been planning to pick her brain about Howard's security, but he woke up with another idea he wants to talk over with her as well.

At his apartment he takes a bit of time to enjoy a caff while he works on his face, going for brown eyes, slightly unkempt and longer brown hair with streaks of grey, a slightly swollen and red-veined nose over a soup-strainer mustache. He gathers some clothes that were waiting to be washed to help give the image of someone either only just heading home or heading out after a very short night. Nothing too remarkable, but the key features look enough unlike his usual look to hopefully not be associated at a quick glance.

After that he gathers up a bunch of his gear and takes a couple of trips lugging it down the block to the garage where he keeps his car. He's happy to work from Tanya's place, and he suspects that she'd provide whatever he needs, but sometimes it is easier to use items you are used to. Then he sets the car for a looping route that will take him first for caff and donuts to help complete the image, then eventually past Howard's place, then through part of downtown before heading to the Gates Undersound Hotel.

Which finally gets him to the point where gets to sink into cold sim as they approach Howard's place, and take a good look at the cameras with his matrix perception, followed by noting the security host and making a broader inspection of the house for anything running silently. Later, while going through downtown, he takes a good look at the host.

Sunday June 9 2075, 0830, Roads around Seattle



>>Peter [Amanda]: Brunch sounds lovely. No need to apologize. I saw how Howard was treating you and I wish I could have done something about it, but you handled yourself well. I hope that he does not try anything else to hurt you. He does have powerful contacts among some unsavory people. When are you coming by?<<

The cameras are R3

There are several silent icons at the residence. The signature would indicate Fly-Spy drones, an RCC, and two 'links.

The host is R6 and is on the Emerald City grid

Sunday June 9 2075, 09:30, Roads around Seattle / 10:30 Great Egg-Spectations

After a quick check of time and location, he calls Amanda and suggests they meet at 10:30am, then he thinks to add "Could we meet down the block? I have no idea what monitors he might still have on your place, but showing my face there probably wouldn't help if he is still keeping tabs."

* Gamma: But I've already shown my face, and more, there.

After a quick coughing bout, Preston adds "And that would make another thing to talk about, actually."

Before the car loops back out of downtown, Preston briefly pulls it into an alley and changes the license plate and car ID, and just for paranoia's sake he checks the car for marks. The quality of the security company and the presence of an apparent rigger have him a bit spooked that Howard's defenses and paranoia may be higher than he'd credited the man with.

While his now blue car proceeds to the apartment where Howard has been keeping Amanda, he sends an ARO to Tanya "Did a drive by on Howard's house -- pure matrix observation work -- and it looks like there is a rigger in there, at least there was this morning." He attaches the details of the hidden icons that he had spotted. Then he proceeds to fix his face and hair to better match what Amanda has seen before.

Later, once he and Amanda were settled at a quiet table near the back of 'Great Egg-Spectations,' he admitted "I'm worried that I may have under-estimated Howard. Not in terms of being a human being, I'm pretty sure that he rates as low as ever I thought, but in terms of how dangerous he could be. Let me explain why I'm re-evaluating, and where m thoughts are going because of that."

He steeples his fingers and confesses "I used to work as a bounty hunter. Part of the job was breaking into places and pulling people out who really didn't want to come out. My partner did most of the kicking down doors and controlling the marks, but I'd assess security, neutralize alarms, open locks, that sort of thing. I guess you could say that I'm used to assessing unpleasant people."

"After I sent you that ARO this morning, just for paranoia's sake I did a drive by of Howard's house, figuring that seeing what his security like on a Sunday morning would give me a better idea of what he's like. Not only does it look like he's contracted with quite a high grade security company, I picked up traces of a Rigger being on site, or at least I spotted drones and a rigger control equipment. Does that sound about right to you, or might that be something new?"

Sunday June 9 2075, 1035, Great Egg-Spectations


Amanda smiles at you as she comes in the door of the diner and sees you waiting for her. Her smile grows when you stand to help her into her seat. She is dresses conservatively in a knee-length skirt and a blouse that leaves almost no skin exposed. Unfortunately for your libido, and Monkey’s, the blouse does little to hide the fact that she is a very buxom young woman. It would be almost unnatural to not feel some stirring in your pants, especially since you can easily remember what they look like in the flesh and how they feel in your hands.

She smiles at your first comments but then gives you a funny look as you continue. “I did not see you as a bounty hunter. I had thought you were a barista or am I remembering something wrong?” Then she shakes her head. “And a rigger at Howard’s house? Not if I know Howard. He has a pathological hatred of anything to do with drones. Apparently one of his mother’s maid drones tried to drown him when he was five or something. He won’t have one about the house or anywhere near the apartment he keeps his mistresses at. And if he dislikes drones, he hates riggers. So if you think you saw some at his house, someone is spying on him because they are not his.”

Sunday June 9 2075, 1037, Great Egg-Spectations


"Well that's a relief! I was getting paranoid about him using drones to follow me, or something."

Then they get interrupted by the waitress. Preston is amused to note that although she has her uniform blouse unbuttoned far enough to show some reasonable cleavage, she still shoots a sour look at Amanda, realizing perhaps how no man in her section is going to be paying attention to her breasts while Amanda is around.

They order their ommelettes, eggs being one of the more reasonable non-soy foods to indulge in, and finally their waitress flounces away.

* Coleman: I haven't explained the full scope of the possible danger.

Preston says "Sorry to stick to the less pleasant topics. I was a barriista, before I got recruited to provide the computers side for a veteran bounty hunter. Interesting few years until we tangled with some powerful, vengeful. People. My partner got killed by them, and I got out of that business. caff is safer, you know?"

"With that history, maybe you can see why I'm worried about Howard. Someone who is spending that much on security, well, seldom will someone spend that much purely to play defense."

"One thing that just occurred to me is what monitoring he may have running in your apartment. He seems like the sort who might not mind having trids of you in the shower or whatever. And just potentially he could have seen our romp the other day. Maybe his belligerence yesterday was just him, maybe it was in response to me talking with you for too long at the track, or maybe he had another reason to dislike me already. It seems to me that perhaps, after brunch, I should check over the apartment so see what could be hiding there."

Sunday June 9 2075, 1039, Great Egg-Spectations


Amanda seems to ignore the daggers the waitress is tossing her way. She eats daintily and carefully as she considers your words. “He might have some sort of cameras there. I honestly would not put it past the perv. I don’t really think that he cares a bunch about me any more now that he has a new woman on the arm, but he might hold some sort of grudge against you, I guess. So, sure, I would like very much if you came over to have a look around.”

While she is talking, you get a message from Tanya. >>Peter [Tanya]: I was thinking that the drones you saw and the RCC may belong to my assets inside Howard’s house and that proves to be the case. The pair of them seem to be of more value than I had originally thought them to be. They can be use their drones to let us know if we are about to receive any unwelcome visitors when I go in. My lead there was a bit miffed that you picked up the drones, so good work there, Peter. On another issue, I have been contacted by a man highly placed in the local KE that I am pretty sure is very bloody dirty. He has invited me to accompany him to dinner and a club this evening and I have accepted. It is a good chance to get some information from and about him. I will be quite late, I imagine, perhaps not returning until the morning. Monique has been briefed and will let you use the room as needed, or perhaps you can make a different sort of arrangement for the night. Love you. Ciao.<<

Sunday June 9 2075, 1040, Great Egg-Spectations


After enjoying some of his omelette and all of his caff, Preston broaches another topic, one that has him nervous. "About your apartment, that leads into another thing. I know that you are out at the end of the month, and right now I'm living pretty much full time at Tanya's. It is something I want to check that she is OK with, but I was wondering if you'd like to use my apartment for a couple of months, if all can get worked out?"

He raises a hand to hold off any response, and hastens to add: "If Howard is spying on your current place, possibly moving in all the sooner? Keeps my place occupied so that I'm not worried about it would be good from my side of things, and I'd expect nothing else from you. It would give you some more time to get settled into whatever comes next for you. It isn't the most convenient, being out in Auburn, but its a nice quiet mafia controlled neighbourhood. Presuming Howard isn't in tight with the mafia, I'd think you'd at least be safe from lingering surveillance from him while there."

After a moment he adds "So long as you don't think that he's apt to hire thugs to kick in my door. I know from experience that no amount of neighbourhood security can really stop that so long as you go in quiet and get out fast. I'd hate to put you in the way of trouble he could be planning for me." He takes a moment to take a deep breath, then admits "This may just be professional paranoia, but my instincts are telling me to treat him as dangerous. I'm not so worried about him besmirching my reputation as I am about more direct reprisals."

He makes a face and admits "Trying to prepare for something like that is hard on me. It is a little much to go hit him first, just based on my fretting about him -- but I sure do prefer offense to defense!"

Sunday June 9 2075, 1044, Great Egg-Spectations


Amanda puts her fork down and looks quite likely to cry. "Fuck. You would do that to help me out? I don't know what to say. Are you talking about moving in right away? I have to admit that I was wondering where I was goin gto go, but this is way out of the blue. What sort of rent will I be paying? I have some creds saved up and Howard has given me a couple thousand to get something ready for the end of the month. A couple of moths at your place would be a dream, Peter. But are you sure?"

Sunday June 9 2075, 1042, Great Egg-Spectations
Double post. Will replace with the next post.

"I just thought of the idea this morning, when I was packing up some stuff to move to Tanya's. Was thinking about how empty apartments tend to attract thieves even in pretty safe neighborhoods, and how I wouldn't want my good 'caff machine to go for a walk -- but also how I like the apartment and I don't want to give it up until I get a better feel for how things are going with Tanya. I mean, right now they are amazing, but it hasn't even been a week, right. And I was thinking about calling you, and then an idea was born ... but like I said, I've not talked with Tanya about it yet. She seems pretty open minded, but everyone has their limits. I wanted to check that you are interested before I put the idea to her."

He pauses to take a sip of caff and review what he'd wanted to say, and realizes there are a few points not covered. He sticks up a few fingers and ticks off the points "Now, if Howard has bugged your apartment, nobody would object to an emergency move, I'm sure of that."

Moving to the next finger, he continues "As for rent, I'm not too worried about it for a couple of months -- I was going to be paying it anyway, and I have stuff there still, furniture, caff machine, entertainment system -- that I don't know what to do with. On the other hand, if you would feel better paying something we can figure it out. I have an old debt to a loan shark that I have to keep making payments on, and I haven't told Tanya about that yet. A bit of money towards that couldn't hurt, but honestly I'd rather you save your money towards getting yourself set up for whatever comes next for you. I've been lucky enough to have a couple of people help me out when I needed to bounce back, about time I helped someone else."

And on to the third finger "The local mafia boss, officer, whatever the title is, goes by the name of Mr. Jabowski. He's the one I owe, and he won't be happy if he thinks I'm pulling a fade -- but I don't want him trying to get his claws into Tanya through me. I can imagine his boys might make a call when someone notices you living in my apartment. I think as long as you tell them that yes I'm still paying for the place and have plans to make my payments, all will be fine. In fact I might want to go see him and let him know all of that. But my real point is that he'll find an opportunity to offer you a loan. I strongly advise you not to take it; owing money to that sort is not something I wish on anyone. It can really bleed you. And of course they take a cut of any business happening in the neighborhood, so be careful on that front. It isn't a perfect situation in that regard, but what is a perfect situation these days?"

He folds down the final finger. "Now, before we even go to your apartment, would you let me inspect your commlink? I doubt that anything has been done to it, but it would be silly to check your apartment out without checking your link first."

(for Mercy)

Amanda waits for him to finish ticking things off on his fingers and silently hands Peter her ‘link. You find nothing wrong with it and it appears to not have been interfered with in any way. As she takes it back she says. “You have no idea what this means to me. It is so nice of you to offer, even if Tanya says no. When do you think that you will know?”

“And you don’t have to worry about me bringing any work back to your place and I learned my lesson about borrowing money from gangsters long ago. I will be glad to pay you rent, whatever you think is fair. You are a very nice man, Peter.” She reaches across the table and puts a hand on yours. It is easy to see why a woman of such breeding chose you and I hope that she wants to keep you around for as long as you want it to last.”

Sunday June 9 2075, 1044, Great Egg-Spectations

* Coleman: I should have told her that her phone was bugged, to make her more willing to help me attack Howard
* Gamma: Ethics aside, I don't have the skill at lying to pull that off
* Liza: If I'm in this for at least the medium term, a short term lie is not a good plan
* Monkey: And she's already plenty grateful, and I know just how she could express that gratitude
* Oleg: Women like her are more trouble than they are worth
* Monkey: Oh no they aren't!
* Coleman: The point being that I want information that might help Tanya, especially because Howard's security company is good. Telling her the truth is risky. So I need to convince her that there is another good reason that I need to know all about things. Hopefully her apartment will be bugged, if not I may need to hope that I don't need to be a very god liar to sell her some story.

"I hope that things last with Tanya, too. But I admit that I still have a hard time believing that it is real. Not that she has done anything to make me doubt -- the contrary, really. It just isn't the sort of thing that I ever expected in my life. And while we have our similarities, we have important differences too, so I guess time will tell if we can use our differences as a strength, or if they become a fault line. I'd maybe be more confident if I was better at this sort of thing, but for now we'll just hope that 'good intentions' count for a lot."

"As for when I can confirm about the apartment, I'm not sure if I'm going to see Tanya today, and I'd rather have this discussion in person. So it might be tomorrow. But if there are bugs in your apartment you can move right away if you want, or you can just ignore them for a bit if you want."

* Liza: She's probably assuming that I could do something about the bugs

"Ah, I should make clear, I don't have the tools with me to do much about any bugs right now. I can probably tell if there are any hidden matrix items, and hopefully track down where they are, but I don't have my toolkit for taking things apart to try and find them, nor am I set up to hack them. I might be able to come back and do stuff about them if you want, but it isn't anything I can do from just my commlink."

"Anyway, hopefully he hasn't descended to that level, but why don't we finish our food then go and check?"

Sunday June 9 2075, 11:03, Amanda's apartment

They left the restaurant to find a light drizzle falling, so Preston grabbed his umbrella from the car (he was pleased to see that after five days he had not lost it yet!). They shared its partial shelter for the couple of blocks to Amanda's building.

When they get up to her door, Preston regrets not having his deck -- he could have started pumping out noise to hopefully give poor reception on any camera.

* Coleman: I need to plan these things more carefully, a casual approach is going to get me killed one of these days

He says to Amanda "When we get inside could you ask me to take a seat and wait, and say that you are going to go change? Go to the bedroom and strip down and put on a new outfit -- take your time, touch up your make-up or fix your hair or whatever. I need to dive into virtual reality to do this as carefully as possible. And just in case anything is triggered by motion, or having something human shaped in the bedroom, or if it is sophisticated enough by you stripping down, I'd like to have those things happen. Once I'm done I'll cough a couple of times to let you know. Then you can come back to main area and we'll head out and walk to the Stuffer Shack a few blocks thataway, and I'll let you know if I found anything. Basically I don't want to make it obvious what I'm doing."

Amanda played her part beautifully, adding the twist of stripping down in the bedroom door. Preston waited to drop into VR until she was done, both because it would not be realistic to not be paying attention and because she certainly did know how to make an impressive performance of it all.

* Coleman: Diversions done, time to get to work
* Monkey: Couldn't I do this from her bedroom, after we'd done some other stuff
* Gamma: I need to focus on what I'm doing, being in bed with Amanda would not lend itself to focus on the matrix

(for Mercy)

Amanda is grateful to share your umbrella and stays quite close to you the entire way. She does not do anything inappropriate, but her breast certainly feels nice pressed against your arm and the scent she is wearing smells so good it is almost intoxicating. When you wait on the outside stoop and give her your instructions, she smiles and nods and you can almost see the gears turning in her pretty head. She does place a finger on your chest and run it down to your belt. "You know, you don't really have to sit on the couch to go into VR. It might be more realistic to make love to me and then relax on the bed while you do your thing. Just saying."

Once through the door into the apartment, she takes the coats to hang it in the closet and places your umbrella in a small stand near the door. “Please sit down for a minute, Peter. I am going to change into something a bit more comfortable. Are you certain that Lady Marisart would not mind you being here? I know that Howard always minded and got very jealous if I tried to see someone on my own time. But fuck him after the way he treated me yesterday after you left. I guess if I was not already on the way out I would be now. Anyway, this means that I can really get to know you better, but I don’t want to get you into trouble with your employer. I will be a few minutes so try not to get too bored.”

Besides at least appearing to be a pretty nice person, Amanda REALLY knows how to put on a strip tease performance. She uses the door frame to great effect and the temperature near you on the couch must increase by at least thirty or forty degrees by the time she stands naked in front of you. There is no denying that parts of your body definitely react to what she does and you can feel the flow of blood to your smaller head even after she disappears from view. Yeah, bored. Right.

Slipping into VR is a relief from the intoxicating woman and you are able to take a detailed look around the apartment suite. Perhaps not surprisingly, you find several icons running silent and identify them as cameras. What is perhaps surprising is that the cameras are cheap things of R2 and their placement is rather amateurish, certainly not the professional job that was done at his house. The cameras seem to have good views of the bed, the couch, the dining room table and the living room floor in front of the faux fireplace

Sunday June 9 2075, 11:08, Amanda's apartment

Preston's VR persona -- of a cartoon Mountie --scurries around the different 'treeforts' representing the cameras, peering at them, checking that they are all the same. He reaches for the riding crop which should be in his hip pocket, but it isn't there. His persona frowns as it pats its empty pocket, and as Preston remembers that he's just on his implanted link, not even his EvoTech Himitsu with its hidden Sleeze module. As things are he can't even mark the cameras, meaning that he can't read the datafiles, he can't even snoop on them, really he can't do anything to them.

Well, except check which grid they are on, which he does.

* Monkey: Want to rend, smash, spindle and mutilate these intrusive things!
* Coleman: Preparation. If I'd brought the deck with me I'd have been able to deal with these properly.
* Oleg: "If 'ifs' and 'ands' were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinker's hands."

With a frustrated stamp of a cartoon boot the cartoon Mountie goes flat as Preston switches to AR, then collapses in on itself as he logs out. After a moment Preston remembers to cough twice to signal that he is finished.

++++++++++++++++++

As they wander the aisles of Stuffer Shack, picking up a few supplies, discussing the merits of various trid shows for sale, laughing at the style of some of the flats for sale, Preston passes along the information. "Cameras throughout your apartment." "Bedroom, in front of the fireplace, couch, dining room table. Howard must have had high hopes for that last one." "I'm assuming Howard's own hand. Nothing like the quality of the security system at his place. Cheap cameras, not set up all that well in the matrix. Should be easy to deal with, when I have the right kit with me."

And finally "Do you want to go back there, or should I take you to my apartment?"

(for Mercy)

Sunday June 9 2075, 11:27, a Stuffer Shack

As you walk through the aisles, Amanda tentatively reaches over to hold your hand in one of hers. As you tell her about the cameras, she giggles. “No, Howard liked to use that table. I had to clean it down afterwards, but that was sort of expected. So, nothing in the shower? Now, that surprises me. I would have thought he would put one there for sure. Maybe he had trouble with the water or something.”

She does appear to be interested in some of the apartments for sale or lease that are listed on the bulletin board, but she settles for toothpaste, a toothbrush, and some feminine products. At your question, she nods. “Can we go to your place and let me see what I might want to bring over? My clothes, certainly, but I do not know how large your closets are and I don’t just want to push your stuff aside. After all, it is your place and I am just a guest there.” She turns to look at you. “A very grateful guest and I do hope that you will let me show just how much I appreciate this in the best way I know how.”

Sunday June 9 2075, 13:33, ending at Charlie's Place (bar near Preston's apartment)

"Not a problem at all. We can head back to the car and ... drek! I left my umbrella at your apartment, and the rain has started again. At least we are in Stuffer Shack, I'll pick up two, maybe between them I'll make it through a week. For that matter, let me call the car to come pick us up. But I'm still buying two, no three, umbrellas."

On the drive to his apartment, Preston starts by explaining some things about the apartment, but after a couple of minutes Amanda says "I'm sure I can figure it all out once we are there. In the meantime, the car knows where it is going, and traffic is slow with this rain, so we have some time."

As they make out through south Seattle and into Auburn, Preston can't help but think "My 16 year old self would never believe this. Heck, my 26 year old self would never believe this. And I still barely believe it." Then he stops thinking about anything other than the moment, to the extent that he doesn't even realize when the car has parked itself in his garage.

Eventually coming out of his daze he blurts "I didn't know that anything with clothes on could be that erotic. Well, without going into hot sim."

Amanda's smile might be a bit smug, and her voice definitely is "You might be an expert in working the matrix, I'm an expert in working men."

* Monkey: I love working with experts in their field

And then practicalities have to take over for a while. Preston arranges for Amanda to have access to the building and the apartment, they sort out messaging, Preston clears some closet space and moves some more clothes to his car, and he shows her how to get at least basic caff out of his machine (happily downing a couple of cups in the process).

And then it is time to grab a couple of the umbrellas against the growing rain, and take a walk around the neighborhood. Strangers don't always get the best treatment around here, so he prefers to introduce her around. He hasn't lived here long enough to be too enmeshed in the local culture, but he is at least a known face who is known to follow the rules.

The final step is to stop at Charlie's Place. Michael and Riccardo are sitting at the back table, and Preston approaches them respectfully and warily; they are not his favorite of Mr. Jabowski's thugs.

* Eliza: I should be pretty clear with these two, but compliment their intelligence by at least pretending to be euphemistic.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. I'd like to introduce my friend Amanda, who will be staying at my apartment for a bit. There are some problems with her place, and I'm following an opportunity that has me sleeping away almost all of the time for at least the moment. But I'm keeping the apartment -- after all I have an agreement, and it is important to honour the agreements one has made. I'm sure you'll be seeing me around as I'll be visiting back here often enough. Certainly I at least expect to be around near the beginning of each month."

Sunday June 9 2075, 13:45, Preston's Apartment



Amanda is pretty talented with clothes off or on and you definitely lose track of where you are as she practically makes love to you in the back seat of your car without ever removing a piece of clothing.

Amanda looks around your place and makes noises like she is impressed. “You know, this is a bit smaller than Howard’s apartment, but it is homier and there aren’t any cameras. I like the way it is laid out and you have nice taste in stuff. That caf machine is SOA, right? Looks it, anyway." She tests the firmness of your bed and gives you an impish smile that might just imply that she wants to give it a try with you in it.

She is an outgoing sort of person and greets everyone you introduce her to in a friendly manner. Jocko, the owner of the neighbourhood Laundromat, pulls you aside as Amanda is chatting with some of the women in the facility. “Gotta hand it to ya, kid; ya sure know how to pick ‘em. That other one, the skinnier one, she was pretty enough and right friendly, and that accent was a killer, but this one is real friendly too, only prettier, no accent, and lots more acreage on her chest, if you know what I am saying?”

Even Michael and Ricardo seem impressed with Amanda, or at least with her curves. Their imaginations practically undress her right in front of you and you can see the estimates of her cup size in their eyes. Of course, their imaginations probably don’t go too far beyond mentally undressing the women who come into the place and guessing their cup sizes. Michael is busy putting away some sort of meat pie but Ricardo waves his fork in your direction. “Glad to hear that Preston. You know the Boss ain’t happy if he don’t get paid on time. And in this case, if he ain’t happy, your girlfriend here ain’t happy.” Michael grunts something with his mouth full and Ricardo translates. "My companion said that something might be worked out if yer new friend wanted to do some favors fer the Boss. He is always looking to add new talent to his team.”

Back in your place, Amanda hangs her coat up and pauses before looking straight at you. “Listen, I got it that this Mr. Jabowski is a mafia thug and I can guess what type of work that man, Ricardo, was talking about. But would it help if I went to see what he would offer me to work for him? It might reduce your debt and it might mean a bit better security for you and some protection against Howard and his Yak friends, and sometimes it makes sense to have good contacts in organized crime. Look, I’m a big girl and that sort of work doesn’t bother me, but would it bother you to be associated with that sort of girl?”

Sunday June 9 2075, 13:47, Preston's Apartment

"Bother me? Nah. We all do what we have to in this crazy world. But a suggestion, you have a lovely singing voice, maybe see if you can get some gigs singing somewhere? I'd think that could have a longer career, and be an alternate, you know?"

* Oleg: She finds her own level quickly enough.
* Gamma: All of Tanya's comments of love aside, my relationship with her at least started with being bought. So what is my level then?
* Oleg: I've been desperate scum since forever.

Preston gets up and runs himself another cup of caff -- Amanda declines -- then comes back looking sombre. "Something you said earlier, that I wanted to wait to cover more. Wait until we were somewhere I can get right pissed off without making a scene, that is. You said that after I got kicked out yesterday, Howard treated you badly. How bad was it?"

Sunday June 9 2075, 13:45, Preston's Apartment


Amanda flushes a bit. "Listen, it wasn't that bed. I've had worse, but, oh frag....................." Her voice falls off as she gently lifts her blouse part way up her left side and you van see a purpled mottling. You have seen enough before to recognize when someone has been hit several times, and hard. It is easy to see now why has has been favoring that side during the time you have been with her. Someone was using her as a punching bag.

Preston is silent for several long moments

* Monkey: I'll rip his ball off
* Oleg: That sort of abuser deserves castration
* Gamma: Tanya already has his destruction planned
* Monkey: Him probably beining in trouble, some day, hardly cuts it.
* Liza: The important thing is making sure that he goes down, and working with Tanya's plan work is the surest way.
* Coleman: More layers and redundancy never hurt.
* Monkey: One of the redundant plans can involve castrating him with a rusty razor

Finally he took in long breath, held it, then forced himself to let it out slowly. "Well." He realizes that his cyberhand is in a tight fist, and with some mental effort he gets the fingers to stretch back out.

"I always forget the pettiness. It is easy to remember the big offenses, the truly horrible actions, but I forget the petty tyranny and odium that some people seem to revel in. In some ways it is easier to forgive the big things -- that a thousand people lost their homes so someone could put up a new factory, the killing of a rival, because at least they were for doing something. Battering you? That was just a sop to his befouled ego."

* Gamma: I sound distant, detached
* Liza: physical touch, eye contact.

Preston reaches out with his meat hand and touches Amanda on the shoulder, and looks her in the eye. I'm sorry that I aggravated him, and that you paid the price. Let's get you some pain pills and a hot water bottle. I'm assuming no broken ribs at least?"

After he's persuaded Amanda to lie down on his couch and rest, he pulls up a chair and clasps one of her hands, forces himself to look her in the eye, and says "I'm not going to just hope that he'll stop. I want to send him a warning to back off. There was an old movie about the mafia where I guy wakes up in the morning to find the head of his prized racehorse in his bed. The thought appeals, but I imagine that the security at the stables is pretty intense, and I'm not sure I could do that to a horse. But I'm going to find a way to send a message, warn him that any more violence from him is going to result in big problems. Something he can't mistake the meaning of ...."

Dropping her hand he snaps his fingers "That's it, his fragging vases. If I could get in with an erasable marker, mark one up, make it look like it had been hit several times on the left side .... no real damage, I'm not trying to enrage the bull, just a warning of what could happen -- and probably make him spend a small fortune on improved security. Its been a bit, but given a month or so I can study his security, figure out how to get inside the house. Would you be willing to tell me what you remember of how to get into his secret display room? That isn't something I'd want to have to figure out on the fly."

Sunday June 9 2075, 13:47, Preston's Apartment



She winces a bit as she motions to her side. "I am not sure who he was mad at. It could have been you. It could have been Tanya for refusing him and making him look small in front of his friends. It could have been something I said or did. He has only hit me a couple of times in the past. I will get past it." She puts a hand up to your face. "But you are a dear for wanting to help. I was only there once, but I have a very good ear. He uses one of those keypad locks. You know, the kind that has a different tone for each number? If you can get me to one of those, I can probably give you the code after some trial and error."

Preston smiles "That is easy. Give me, oh, about 40 minutes. I need to get me get my electronics toolkit from the car, grab some mixed parts from the Fairtel store down the street, and I can download the tones. I'll have a pad for you right here."

He puts the words into action right away. He takes an armload of clothes out of his closet on the way to his car, and gets his toolbox and looks through for what he has and what he'll need. He over buys at Fairtel, dropping a grand on a mixture of parts since he'll need some later to hardwire an extra module into the deck.

After that it is just hooking up a touchpad to a speaker, running it through his Metalink burner phone as a tone generator. It ended up being a bit over an hour because he'd saddled a bit in the electronics store, but finally he sticks the pad and speaker up to a wall, gestures, and says "Have at it!"

Sunday June 9 2075, 1500, Preston's Apartment


When you get back, you find that Amanda is still sitting where you left her, but there is a fresh cup of caf in front of her. She stands and watches as you put your pad together but does not speak until you have it finished and hung up on the wall. "You are very good at that, Peter. Looks like you have a skill set to fall back on when Tanya gets tired of you." She walks to the pad and plays with it for some time and you hear the beeping of the tones for about thirty minutes before she turns to you with a smile and gives you the code.

She pauses again. "Are you really going to burgle Howard's home. He has bragged a lot about his extensive off-site security system that is backed up by cameras all over the place. I am afraid that I cannot help much there. Please don't do something to get in trouble over some bruises that will soon go away. I am free of him now, thanks to you."

Amanda moves closer to you and puts a hand on your arm. "I would like to show my appreciation, if you will let me."

Sunday June 9 2075, 1500, Preston's Apartment / 1540 On the Road

* Monkey: Yes!

"I appreciate the sentiment," Preston makes sure to reach out and touch Amanda's arm, "and for sure it is tempting, but I have to get going."

* Monkey: What?!? Whyever not?

"I have some serious geek-work to do and Tanya is off to some engagement so I'll have all the peace and quiet to totally focus on it." He chuckles and adds "That is how you can tell a true geek: happy to avoid the company of two different gorgeous and amazing women, just for a bit of time cloistered with technology!"

Once he was finished with his apologies and they'd completed their good-byes, he made an effort to walk sedately to his car, and ordered the dog brain to follow grid-guide faithfully.

* Monkey: Couldn't I hurry a little bit, at least? If I'm not going to play with Amanda, then I want to get into VR with that machine. It is going to be sweeee - eeet!
* Coleman: I do need to maximize my practice time, but the best way to ensure a reasonably block of time is to avoid attention
* Liza: and I was rude enough, leaving Amanda like that. Skipping to the car would have been unseemly

He passed the time by making a list of hacking programs and hardware he wanted to get, then he sent it to Monique, asking if she could forward it to Tanya's contact for such things. Then he switched to his most disposable ID and ordered a bunch of entirely legal cyberdeck programs from an entirely legitimate source, and got those ready for download.

And finally he started a matrix search for all that he could learn about Jade Mounain, the security company Howard is using. He feels the familiar adrenaline adrenaline rush of being on the hunt, and unconsciously he bares his teeth as he starts thrashing through the matrix in search of details to correlate. Along with everything else, he makes sure to grab images of their uniforms.

Preston: Sunday June 9 2075, 1630

Running in VR but cold Sim is a slightly eerie experience, like he can touch things, but they aren't entirely solid, like objects are sculpted of sand or jello. At least, in comparison to how they always were in hot sim.

Monkey: Forget 'hot' and 'cold', call them 'good' and 'bad'!
Oleg: Yah, Hot Sim is BAD! Frags with my head.
Monkey: Oh yah, frags me sooooo goooood
Oleg: No going back to living a virtual life.
Monkey: Time will tell

It didn't take long to ride up to a Stuffer Shack -- although longer than he'd expected. Tanya must life in the neighborhood farthest from a Shack in all of Seattle, so the search routine had taken entire seconds to guide him to his quary.

Fortunately it wasn't so far away, and the zone was decent, so noise wasn't anything that Signal Scrubber couldn't handle. He rode up to the Stuffer Shack and flicked it with his riding crop ... but failed to leave a mark. Fortunately he didn't seem to have set off any alarms in the process. With a mental sigh he switched to AR and then logged out.

He repeated the process, but this time swinging harder to leave his mark, but with the same result. He took a moment to gather himself after logging out, and to remember how the new matrix worked. This time when he repeated the whole process he slashed a nice line across the ad for the 'Super-Stuffed-Soy-Slush!'

Adrenaline kicked in as he was finally ready to enter the host, but he took the time to switch to silent running, making the whole virtual world seem even more hazy and distant, but leaving him cloaked. Only then did he walk through the door.

A bell tinkles, and the clerk starts looking around for who set it off. Preston frowns to himself but stays focused and starts looking for the security camera looking at the real world clerk, which turns out not to be hard at all -- it shows up as the security camera looking at the virtual clerk -- who keeps looking around but seems unable to recognize the pixelated cloak he is under even when looking straight at him.

He reaches out with his riding crop to mark the camera but can barely reach it, merely flicking it with the tip of the crop -- but the cheap plastic casing takes the mark anyway. As the clerk looks around again he floats up to the camera and tries to take the housing off, but fails and takes a shock! The clerk looks all the more alert, certain now that something is happening, but he still can't spot Preston's persona, and this time Preston's screwdriver hits the right spot and pops off the cover.

Peering into the camera Preston is easily able to take a brush and sweep away the clerk from the picture, while the clerk still seems unable to spot him.

Having seen what he needed to see, Preston leaves the host, switches to AR, then jacks out, and frowns.

"That was just a Stuffer Shack, and I have far too much trouble. I really need to up my game."

While he mulled that unpleasant thought, he checked on the matrix searches he'd launched.

ETA: edited to remove a typo and put in logging out between the initial attempts to mark the host.

Preston: Sunday June 9 2075, 1630


Jade Mountain Security is a smallish company that advertises to handle private security for the home. They claim to have the best and most up-to-date equipment and dedicated operators to monitor the security for your house. They claim to be able to notify the authorities within seconds of a security breach. There are some testimonials from satisfied clients. Your search does not reveal a client list.

Preston: Sunday June 9 2075, 1645


Before he dove into more matrix studying, he needed to get in touch with Tanya. Well, first he needed to figure out how to get a cup of caff on his own in this place -- up until now whenever he was looking for such a thing, it just seemed to appear. Monique had let him in earlier, helped him store what he had brought, and admitted him to the planning room where The Deck had been waiting for him. She might still be around, but ....

* Oleg: It is no good for a man to be coddled too much, teaches you to be helpless. I should have figured these sort of things out earlier.
* Liza: Yet it would have been rude and crude to pass on what was offered and insist on making my own fare.
* Monkey: And what they brought was always so goooooood!
* Oleg: But if I'm to be more than a temporary guest, I can't expect to be waited on like a baby.

Yes, definitely he should at least figure out how to make caff on his own.

As he explored the suite -- a really inadequate term for the place -- He took his time to compose his message to Tanya. When it was done he flagged it to low priority so that she wouldn't feel a need to interupt anything to deal with it, hopefully. Possibly not the most coherent way to put together a message, but he'd flag it low priority and, but trust Tanya to sort it out when she had time to give it some attention.

>>Tanya [Peter] Some things I wanted to let you know. I checked out Amanda's apartment, the one that Howard has been paying for, and found it full of cameras. I've not traced those yet, but will do so shortly. I'm assuming they go back to Howard, but for all I know his wife wanted to know what he was up to, or Amanda was gathering black-mail material, or something. I like to keep an open mind in my paranoia.

As a result, I've loaned Amanda my apartment for the next while until she can get herself working and into a place of her own again. And I brought more of my stuff over here so that I don't need to go back to my apartment as much. Monique helped me put things away for now, but I imagine you may have thoughts about where tool kits and my clothes would best go.

I'm afraid I've brought enough stuff over now that if you feel a need to kick me out, please give me some time or help to cart everything back out to my car -- it is certainly than an armful by now. I hope I'm not invading your space too much.

It also turned out that Howard had beaten Amanda after we left the track yesterday. He's all class that one; waiting for his downfall is going to be painful when I'd like to have him in a locked room with a stun baton. Anyway, maybe that beating helped motivate her, but whatever the reason she provided some info that you might find interesting. I'll go over that with you in the morning hopefully.

By the way, the kitchen facilities in your suite are a wonder. As in, I wonder if I'll ever figure out where the caff, or even coffee, is hidden? I'm about five minutes from taking a drive to the nearest Soybucks. Or disturbing Monique, but I told myself that for once I'd take care of myself here. I have discovered the dishwasher, wine cooler, and pieces of cutlery that I had to look up on the matrix to determine their uses. The quest for caff continues.

What else? Oh, yes, Thank you again for finding that deck. I'm not sure that I'm living up to it yet, but it certainly is a sweet machine! I'd hoped that other things would not take so long today, I was pretty happy to be able to get in and start doing some serious matrix practice.

And thank you for the coffee that I'm about to have -- Victory! Well, partial victory. I've located a mug, a microwave, coffee beans, and a mortar and pestle. I promise to wash the latter off after I've used it to crush the beans. Provided that I can find the dish soap. I do hope that you and Monique will forgive me for any sins against your gear that I'm committing here.

Back to the matrix. Howard's security company is a good one. Small, but a strong host. I'm still working out my plan to be able to cover you. I'm less worried about GOD than I was before, but timing will still probably be tight. Tomorrow I'm going to try to map out the cameras in more detail, to make sure we have the minimum stress and time route figured out. But not until after I see you -- how is it that after less than ten hours apart, I already miss you so much? You could say that I'm a little motivated to make sure you come out unscathed!

His security company typically calls KE, from what I can tell, rather than sending out their own forces. I'm assuming that you know the KE response times and all of that. Bad news is that the knights have enough resources that diversions are not apt to slow them down. So I guess this means doubling down on the 'not being noticed' part of the plan.

Ah, Monique heard me crunching coffee beans with the mortar and pestle. Her expression would have been priceless if there was not such a strong hint that I'm a total idiot. Well, maybe I was just projecting my feelings, she really kept a very neutral expression all things considered. I imagine that you may have to have a conversation with her about brining home strays, or something like that? Despite which she did show me the actual grinder. I would have sworn that panel was the fridge rather than a cupboard. I guess I'll have to figure out where the actual fridge is sometime.

Despite the misadventures along the way -- ah, sweet potion of life. Not the best coffee I've ever made, but seldom have I appreciated it more.

And now I'm going to go see if I can figure out more about those cameras at Amanda's place. Hopefully the excercise will help work a little more of the rust off. Well, maybe I make up a second cup of coffee first, while I already have things out and dirty. Avoids having to try to repeat these adventures later.

I hope you are having a good evening, and do please be careful. And if by any chance you need me not to be here when you get back, I can either camp out in the planning room for a while, or shove off to another hotel if it is longer. Not that I expect you to need me gone, but you had somewhat hinted that I find different plans for tonight, and I know you can have a lot of plans going on in your life that I don't know about, and I don't want to mess those up. <<

(for Mercy)

>>Peter [Tanya]: Whoo. Long message. I had to wait until I could concentrate for a few minutes to get you a reply. First off, I know almost absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, zippo about the kitchen. That is strictly Monique’s domain and I leave it all to her. I always seem to get this odd look from her when I try to find something in there on my own. Bloody embarrassing, actually.

You may bring as much of your stuff to the suite as you think you need there. I have told Monique that the spare bedroom is yours, so go ahead and use the closets there as needed. Please try to not leave things laying all about in a mess, though, as it is not unusual for that room to end up being the place all the coats go when we have a large group over. You may sleep there if you feel a need to be apart from me once in a while. Also, see if you can work with Monique to sort your clothes in the closet. There should be some new things there already and you can try them on, but they were done by the same tailor as your suits so they should fit perfectly.

You are very welcome for the deck. I do hope that you are able to work it’s mysteries out. I am afraid that my skills are more a product of a misspent youth and lean in other directions. If we do well as partners, I think that we could see an upgrade in the future.

I am sorry to hear about Amanda’s place and the cameras. I should have expected that from a man like Howard. Does she need to see a doctor? If you think so, see Monique and get the names and addresses of a couple I have on standby that could see her. And good work on the security company. Do some more research there, by all means. I agree with your assessment that it does mean that we probably do need to operate on the “don’t get caught’ plan a bit more. Figure out how to get me to the house safely.

My evening is rather boring, actually. It is more or less some social recon for a later action that I have in mind and will share with you when we get together if I think it is worth proceeding with. I expect to be out until mid morning so do not wait up. I do not need you to be gone, so please do not check into another hotel. My earlier hint was to actually nudge you in the direction of spending the night with Amanda. I know that the two of you have hit it off and I do not mind if you sleep with her on occasion as long as you come home to me and shag my brains out. Have fun if you go there.

I miss you very much and am glad that I am having an affect on you. It means my nefarious scheme is working. Stick around long enough and you will see the depravity of my master plan. Bwahahaha. Love you. Ciao.<<

Preston: Sunday June 9 2075, 1713, Tanya's Suite

>> Tayna [Peter] I know what you were nudging me towards, you crazy, adorable, woman. And Amanda may have appreciated it. But there is an old, old joke -- remember that where I grew up a lot of material dates back to the creation of the NAN, and I saw it in a paper book about programmers from way back then, so it is at least that old -- that goes something like the following:

A church minister, a lawyer, and a programmer were havinga conversation, and it came around to infidelity. The minister said he'd never be unfaithful to his wife, because it was wrong. The lawyer said he'd never take on a mistress, because his wife would find out, divorce him, and take of everything he had. The programmer said that he'd like to have a wife and a mistress who knew about each other, so he could tell his wife he was with his mistress, tell his mistress that he was with his wife, and so get a quite evening to really get some work done.

More seriously, the security is going to be a real challenge for me, and I want you around to spend time with long beyond Tuesday, so I'm willing to forego other pleasures to make sure that I'm ready. And with that, back to the Matrix. <<

* Liza: I've discussed the kitchen with Tanya, but not really with Monique.

Preston smacked his forward, although only with his meat-hand, and composed another message before going matrix diving

>> Monique [Peter] Could I book a kitchen talk, and maybe tour, for the latter part of next week, assuming all is well then? I'd very much like to do some baking, and I hope that we can arrange for me to do that here without causing too much chaos and disruption to your domain. I understand that the kitchen has been your area and I respect that -- but I need to do things with my hands sometimes, and I don't think the hotel wants me re-wiring the lighting! Besides which I'm on the hook to produce some Ukrainian Christmas cookies in the near future. I'm willing to abide by any rules, guidelines, restrictions, and operating procedures that you want. <<

* Gamma: I feel better for having sent that. This suggests that I'm not comfortable with Monique, and am glad to be planning more communication.
* Oleg: Of course I'm not comfortable with having servants around. It isn't right.
* Liza: Tanya and Monique seem to have a good relationship, with depths that I don't understand. I think it is probably quite symbiotic.

Preston gave his head a shake to get his thoughts off such things, and prepared to dive back into the matrix; which is to say he made a quick run to the washroom and finished his first cup of coffee. Just before plugging his datajack cable into the deck he found some paper and scribbled a note to prop up by his second coffee, reading "Yes I'm going to drink this and yes I know it is cold by now."

Then he dove into cold-sim and headed to Amanda's apartment.

(inserting a missed mail from Mercy to the top of this post)

>>Peter [Tanya]: Thank you, Peter. You are a rare find. I hope that you get some work done. Ciao.<<

>>Monsieur Preston [Monique]: Thank you for showing an interest in my kitchen. We may certainly talk of things when you have an opportunity. I am usually available so just look for me, oui? I can understand the way cooking can soothe the soul. Contact me when you are ready, but please try to remain out of the kitchen until then.<<


Preston, 17:20, matrix (Amanda's apartment)

Finding Amanda's apartment in the matrix had turned out to be the hardest part of the task. Aside maybe from convincing himself that it was all this simple.

He should have known how stupid some people were about their electronics -- in his bounty hunting days they'd often caught a break from cheap electronics improperly installed and configured. But he'd expected something more sophisticated here all the same.

But really, the cameras really were that stupid. They were matrix devices, probably so Howard could download the contents to his link without having to go to the cameras--but they weren't connected to anything. In other words they were vulnerable on the matrix, they didn't have the protection of a host or even a persona, and on their own they were about as challenging to crack as a puzzle printed on a cup of soycaff.

Their files did have basic encryption turned on, but again nothing that would stand up to even basic techniques. But they did have one thing in favor of the defense -- their files were empty. Howard had at least been smart enough to delete the files when he copied them over.

Frustrated, Preston switched to AR in preparation for jacking out -- but then a thought hit him. Would Howard have the knowledge and discipline to really scrub the memory of the cameras? Switching back to VR, he returned to the scene. Firing up the toolbox utility and switching the deck around to maximize the data processing, he started throwing all his software knowledge at copying the raw data out of storage, rather than simply reading files.

He drops out of VR and then jacks out, aware that his overwatch score must be climbing. He finds an addition added to his note by his coffee cup "If you would like some hot coffee, or food, please let me know." Combined with the ARO he'd absently saved while working with the cameras he gets the point -- Monique has a certain overwatch of the apartment, that may be benign but is all the same thorough.

He sighs, then sends >>Monique [Peter] Thank you for the kind offer Monique, and I'll take you up on it. Food of any sort would be lovely. I'm afraid I'm apt to let it grow cold too, it just isn't a night when I'll give my food and drink due respect, sorry.<<

And then he starts re-assembling the deleted files. There are gaps, some loss of image quality, but the overall picture he pulls out is nothing that he wants to watch in detail anyway. It is indeed a record of Howard having sex with Amanda in various spots around the apartment, in various positions, but all with a similar lack verve.

Well, nothing that he wanted to keep, but he'd hold onto it for now in case Tanya had any use for it. Or for that matter Amanda.