[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #346

Cynthia stays pensive for a moment. She could try to contact this Notomi person to ask him some questions, but she's not sure it would be safe. Maybe Tanya knows him? Note, maybe she knows where Phil Tanaka is... She could find him some other way since he was the "confidential informant" about the "gang war" two nights ago, but she would have to dig on the KE side...probably not the easiest thing to do...

Speaking about Tanya, Cynthia checks the hour, to see when she is supposed to arrive.

Your 'link shows that Tanya is probably still a bit out. Eugene is softly playing a nice tune on his harmonica and smiles as you notice him. Jeanette comes to your table with more coffee. "Mother says to tell you that your bread is almost done and would you like to come finish it?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #347

Cynthia jumps on her feet "Sure!" and walks - almost runs - to the kitchen.

Sophie smiles at you as you enter the kitchen, motioning to the rack with your hat and apron. She is talking to Jean with a lot of animation, moving her arms about. When finished, she turns to you and walks to the oven. "Good timing. I think that your loaves are just about finished." She stoops over and looks through the glass front of the stove, pointing out what she looks for in the way the crust looks. She points to an oar-like stick with a flat blade on one end. "Grab that and we will take them out. Just one at a time, please."

She talks you through how to use slide the stick under each loaf in turn and bring them out of the oven to a nearby counter. When all three are out, she takes the stick and removes several more loaves. "Alright. Very good, Cynthia. Very good indeed. These look almost perfect. OK, now we clean up a bit while they cool enough to be able to cut without mushing them up." She takes you to the sink where she begins washing up some of the accumulated pots and pans, asking you to assist her. She talks about life in the community and the sense of living in a small place where everyone knows everyone and is probably related to someone.

~~

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #348

Cynthia grumbles a bit about the fact that cleaning is not the best part of the job, but helps nonetheless. She listens quietly to Sophie talking about the community. It seems nice, but she's not quite sure it would be for her. Then again, maybe it would... She stays pensive for a while, cleaning anything she is given, not really paying attention, thinking about that.

After a few minutes there are significantly fewer dirty dishes to wash than there had been. Sophie wipes her hands on a towel and passes it on to you. "Here you go, and thank you very much for helping. I know it was not your pans we were cleaning, but I will see to those in a bit. I think your loaves should be cooled and ready to be tested. Would you like to do the honors on the first loaf?" She hands you a longish, serrated bread knife and brings over some butter.

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #349

Enthusiastic, Cynthia takes the knife, and proceeds to slice the first loaf. She hesitates a bit, and gives the first slice to Sophie, waiting for her verdict. Afterwards, she will eat one, and bring another one - and her other loaves - to the table, where she will give a slice to Eugène if he wants one. And Tanya if she's here now. She will try to hide it - badly - but she's obviously quite proud of her performance.

Sophie takes the slice and puts some butter on it before taking a bite. She smiles and pronounces the loaf a great success. "You have done very well for your first loaves, Cynthia. You should be proud of your effort."

When you go out to the dining area with the bread, you notice that Tanya has indeed arrived and is sitting at the table with Eugene, along with another woman. Tanya and Eugene have their heads bent close in a conversation the second woman does not seem involved in. She see you and Sophie and puts a hand on Tanya's arm as she rises and comes toward you, intercepting Sophie with cheek busses and talking in mile-a-minute French. Tanya and Eugene look and see you. Eugene rises as you get to the table and helps you with the bread loaves in your arms and pulls out a chair for you. "Mmmmm. This smells divine. Is this what you have been doing in the kitchen? I understand that you already know Lady Tanya Marisart?"

Tanya nods to you and accepts the slice of bread you offer. Both bite into the bread and make appreciative remarks. Just then Sophie and the other woman walk over to the table, arm in arm. "She did everything from preparation to baking. She shows much promise for being a cook."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #350

Cynthia nods at Eugene "Yep, this is what I've been doing. And yes, I already know Tanya." She glances at the woman who came with Tanya, then gives her a slice too. After that, she sits down and enjoys her own slice with a smile. Pure gluttony given her breakfast but she has to try her own bread after all.

Tanya looks at you and smiles then motions to the other woman as you give her a slice of your bread. "Cynthia, I would like you to meet Monique. She is my right hand and the one person I can rely on to keep me organized and on schedule. She is a right bloody cheeky git, but I would be lost without her. Monique, this is Cynthia, a right fine cook, if this bread is any evidence."

Monique looks at you with a smile and holds out a hand. "It is nice to meet you, Cynthia. Perhaps we can share some cooking secrets later, non? For now, I go off with my good friend and we talk the gossip."

Sophie laughs and the pair walk off towards the kitchen. Eugene looks after them then focuses back to you. "So, a fine cook, it seems. Clever woman. And, yes, I happen to agree with Sophie; this bread is very good and you seem to have a knack for cooking." Tanya has a mouth full of bread and can only nod in agreement.

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #351

Cynthia takes the offered hand, with a small smile. She then turns to Eugene and Tanya. She seemed a bit overwhelmed before, but appears a bit more comfortable now with less people around her "It's my first time cooking anything so... I probably got lucky, that's all."

For a moment, she seems about to ask something, but changes her mind, unsure of what Tanya wants to say in front of Eugene.

Eugene nods but says, "Don't sell yourself short, Cynthia. You did a good job with this, even if it is your first time."

Tanya nods in agreement as she wipes her mouth with a napkin. She looks at Eugene for a few seconds then back to you. "Would you like to take a short walk along the river?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #353

Cynthia nods "Sure." She looks at her breads for a moment, then decides they can stay here for a moment, and follows Tanya.

Eugene notices your look and says, "I will guard the bread for you while you are gone. Don't worry; no one will get past me."

Tanya laughs as she stands and offers an arm to you. "Why do I get the feeling that is like setting the fox to guard the chickens?"

"Hey, I won't take more than a slice as payment for my vigilance. Promise. Well, no more than two."

The two of you walk out of the restaurant and Tanya nods at the three old men in their rocking chairs as they doff their caps to you. She heads off behind the building towards the large trees with some sort of lacy stuff is hanging from the branches. You can glimpse the wide, lazy river through the trees and the sound of moving water becomes more obvious the farther down a small trail you go. The trail eventually ends at a small wooden dock that has clearly seen much better days. There is a small boat of some sort tied up at the end of the dock and a small bench on the shore overlooking the water. Tanya leads you to the bench and takes a seat, patting the space next to her. "Have a seat and let's talk."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #354

Cynthia squints "As long as each slice doesn't make half a bread..."

She sits down on the bench, and asks "Where do you want to start?"

Tanya turns a bit serious. "To start, what is your impression of Eugene. I have met him before and have my opinion, but what is yours?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #355

Cynthia frowns "Eugene? You know I'm utterly bad at this kinds of things right? I believed the other guy was okay, but if Eugene telle the truth, he is not. So either I was mistaken about Eugene, or about Roger." She shrugs "As you can see, that doesn't exactly speaks well about my judgement skills. As far as people are concerned anyway."

She snorts, looking at the river in silence for a moment "He seems alright, well liked here."

"He is indeed well liked here. And you have the support of Sophie and Mama Lini, which is a good step in that direction as well. Alright, we table the discussion of him for a bit. Let's talk about the things that we were working on yesterday. I have some data on a couple of the other companies that are apparently controlled by Sampson Industries. You?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #356

Cynthia shrugs "You told me you were looking into it, so I just waited, and came here to make bread." She smiles lightly "So nothing more than what I told you yesterday for now."

After a moment, she adds "Oh, not exactly, that reminds me. I was looking for Phil Tanaka, to learn where I could find him. I didn't - yet - but learned about a man named Akira Notomi. He was in the Yakuza a while back but defected. Someone could try to reach out to him to get this information."

"I was able to do some digging through some contacts I have in the business world. So far I have some information on Grainger Manufacturing and Avila Transport. As you thought, they work closely together, and I imagine that the others fit into the pattern as well. Avila Transport provides heavy lift transport for nearly all of the projects picked up by Grainger. The only exceptions I could find were some short haul jobs that were local to one or another of their plants and they used local companies for. At least so I thought. On a hunch, I traced those local companies, too, and found that they are among the companies that Sampson owns a majority interest in, so really no difference. Sampson appears to have complete control of the process, from raw materials to refining to transport and manufacturing. Not precisely illegal anymore, but it is certainly a way to hide assets and launder money from activities that are illegal. And given that we strongly suspect their link to the Yakuza, I would say there is a lot of money laundering going on. Your opinion?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #357

Cynthia grins "Follow the money is always a nice option." she considers the question for a moment, then adds "I think I'll dig heavily into Avila. It might not tell me what is going on, but it can certainly tell me where, which could be at least as interesting if not more so. Plus, individual locations are bound to be less secure than corporate Hosts, so finding the what could be done more easily after that. And if they didn't cover their tracks too well at that level, I could get a feel for some of their more shady operations. Especially if I'm able to find who pays for it. Though I'll warn you, even if I do find the files, I probably won't understand anything about it, I don't have any formation in finance and associated drek."

Tanya nods and smiles at you. "But I do, and I have a couple of contacts that are even better at that than I am. If you can copy anything you find and send it to me, we can be a bit closer to what is going on."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #358

Cynthia nods "I'll add that on my todo list, sure. If it's well protected though, it may take some time. And I'd really like to hack this Tanaka dude now." She frowns, then looks at Tanya "Speaking of dudes, do you know any executive working for Avila currently in Seattle? It could help quite a bit if I hacked him first."

"You might want to get started on Tanaka. To my knowledge, neither Grainger nor Avila any jobs in Seattle, although they both maintain office space. They openly advertise in the AR guides to businesses in the sprawl. I have no idea how high up the chain the local office managers are, though."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #359

Cynthia shrugs "They don't need to be all that high, it's mostly just to get a feel of how things work there. I won't learn anything important, but I'll be able to know what to expect in their main operations. Well, that's the theory anyway."

"As for Tanaka..." She coughs lightly "I was hoping you could talk to this Akira Notomi. Well, you or someone else, but I get the feeling that getting him to talk about Tanaka would require more finesse than I have. By far. I don't need much since I only have to know where to find him, but..."

"I will see what I can do. I have a very good contact in the media industry and should be able to get to this Notomi person. While I try to arrange that, do you wan to look into the local offices of Avila?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #360

"Ok, cool." Cynthia nods, then rubs her chin, pensive "That would probably be for the best. I'd like to find the mercenaries too, but that would probably be best done with Tanaka. So... Yeah, probably."

Tanya smiles. "Good. Now, how are you doing? If you keep on with this, the pressure and the danger are going to increase, right?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #361

Cynthia shrugs "I'm okay. I'll have to see if I have to do something about Roger though, if he really works for Renraku... I could always tell him I found a paid job and that I'm dropping this for the time being I suppose." She grimaces, then shrugs "But yes, I know it can be dangerous. Especially if I let them get to me. Which I don't really want to of course."

She pauses for a moment, hesitating about something, but then asks "Do you know anyone in a high level clinic? I'm not yet sure I really want to do it, but there may be some bioware that could help me, probably a lot." she grunts "Though if I do go that way, I'll want some of the best available stuff, which would require a high level clinic. And they are probably booked well in advance, with no way to make room for me if I'm the one asking..."

Tanya looks at you for a few seconds without blinking then says, "You want to add bioware? Does that not sort of mess up your ability to use the matrix?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #362

Cynthia sighs and grimaces "A bit for some aspects yes. Not at all on some some others since it would help a lot." She looks at the river a moment "I'm not eager to do it, but it would help I think. And the 'mess up' part would only be temporary, until I get used to it. Hopefully, it won't be too long... Or too bad."

Tanya nods. "I do know people that sit on the boards of some very good hospitals and clinics and might be able to swing some influence for you. I just want you to be sure."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #363

Cynthia nods "I am." After a while, she adds "Mostly." She shrugs "There are some stuff for which I'm not yet sure, but for the main things I am. Pretty much anyway." She rubs her chin "Or I'm sure it will be very useful, I'm just not yet perfectly comfortable with this idea. Good thing it's "only" bioware and not cyberware, I don't think I could have."

Tanya nods. "I can understand. My first implants were to replace parts of me that were damaged or destroyed in an auto accident years ago. Since then, I have added more cyber and bioware to help assist me in my profession. The result is that I am pretty packed with stuff. I suppose if the accident had not happened, I might be more concerned about what I was putting into my body. I will make the initial contacts and you tell me if you want to follow through."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #364

"I will." she pauses then adds "Follow through I mean. If it can help, there's nothing restricted or worse in what I want, everything can be done above board."

"It is always better to be legal about this sort of thing. Do you have the money this may cost you?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #365

Cynthia nods "I should yes. As soon as I've contacted someone to sell stuff I found here and there in the 'trix in the last few days. It shouldn't take long."

Tanya nods and gives you a serious look. "Let me know if I can help." She pauses to look around and gives a small sigh. "I can almost forget the outside world when sitting here. See that man on the porch of his shack over there? Baiting a hook and tossing it in the river then just sitting back in his rocking chair. Few worries. Few needs."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #366

"Don't worry, just getting me an appointment soon will be enough." She looks around, then shrugs "I think I could enjoy it for a day. Then I'd bored to death to be honest." After a couple of seconds, she adds, almost laughing "Maybe when I'm an old wrinkled woman."

Tanya smiles wryly. "I guess that includes me. I have been very involved with lots of people for years and could use the break. I think I could remain here for a while and not be too bored. Sometimes there is a need to just drop off the face of the world and watch life go by. I suppose it is all one's point of view that matters, and we all have a slightly different point of view, don't we?" She looks off at the tree-lined river for a bit then adds, "This really does seem like a bit of someplace else, you know. I wonder what I would find if I got on that sorry excuse for a boat and just pushed off? What would I find out there?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #367

Accessing a map, Cynthia answers with "Well, it depends if you go upstream or downstream. There's the ocean downstream and..." She pauses, then after a second resumes "Oh, you meant figuratively. There's only one way to know I suppose." She shrugs "Though even if I'll admit I see the appeal to live here, at least for a while, I don't really need more. If I want to unwind, escape this world, I just go in the matrix, so..."

Tanya chuckles. "Yes, well, some people are lucky. You can do that, but the matrix is not my forte. I mean, I can use it for the normal things people do, but I will never have your talent and skill. But then you can't do what I do, so I guess it evens out. And I guess that is a hint for no more lolly-gagging about?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #368

Cynthia shrugs "It's more that I'm not really the best person to talk to about this kinds of things." After a moment, with a small grimace, she amends "Or to talk to period I suppose. At least if you want nice answers and probes and so on. Talking about the matrix, that I can do. Though I prefer doing than talking. But otherwise..."

Tanya nods. "I can understand the doing rather than the talking, but my line of work usually requires a lot of planning and talking before the few minutes of exciting doing. And, really, if the planning and talking is done right, the few minutes are not even that exciting. I am comfortable with that as there are enough unaccounted for variables that pop up now and then to keep it exciting enough, and I frequently use my spare time base jumping or skydiving or SCUBA diving. So, is the matrix all you do, or is there a girl inside that wants to try something else once in a while?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #369

Cynthia snorts "I never had to really plan anything long term. Except in some games, here and there, but that's all." She plays with her hair for a minute "Up to now anyway, but even there, it's not that deep. For now at least." She shrugs, then cocks her head on the side "As for your question, I would have thought that my breads would have answered it, don't you think?"

"Indeed, for your first try, you did very well. Apparently you should be adventurous more often."

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #370

"Maybe. Though it was mostly because I wanted to eat something different, and not really for anything else." She shrugs "Plus, I have a lot of things to do at the moment. A yakuza to hack, a bunch of corps to infiltrate, maybe a mole to find in KE... There'll be time later to be adventurous. If that's what I want. And assuming I didn't have more than enough adventure with all that. And I'm still alive at the end of course."

She makes a face, then adds "Oh by the way, the people with Rowena are still alive. Barbara contacted me in the night, but I'm waiting for her to tell me more. I don't know if she doesn't trust me yet or what, but she seems to want to say as little as possible. I even offered to help if they needed anything, but she didn't answer to that. Then again, I'm probably the last one who should criticise lack of trust I suppose..."

"We do have much to do. Idyls such as this are rare, but enjoyable. Thank you for coming out with me and I hope that I have not wasted your time. Shall we return?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Tuesday June 11th, 2075 - Cajun Town, Seattle] #371

Cynthia snorts "My time is what I want it to be so..." She stands up, starting to walk back to the restaurant "I'll start with Avila's home office. You'll get me Tanaka's location?"