Friday 14 June 2076 1230, Shooting Range, Seattle


Mister Black looks at you and nods. "It is a fine weapon and you do seem to have a bit more ease with it. But it is a rare find and in demand, as I am sure you know. I can sell the base model for fifteen grand. Are you interested in any modifications?"

Meira nods, thinking for a moment. It wasn't the worst price for a weapon like this, but the modifications she wanted would drive the price up.

"I'll need chameleon coating, a personalized grip, a suppressor, and a smartgun system. I'll also want to get APDS and subsonic ammo for it. Let's err on the side of caution and make it two hundred rounds of each. How long do you expect modifications to take?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1232, Shooting Range, Seattle


Mister Black shrugs. "Most of that is easy. The hardest part is the grip and I can walk away from here with a mold. You want that smartgun system internal or external? The external one is much cheaper, but I know some people like them inside, even though it doubles the cost of the weapon. Maybe two days? Give me a comcode and I will let you know."

"External is fine. I've used both, and unless you need to mount something else on top, there's no real advantage to internal. Two days is fine - I have weekend business anyway. Here's my comcode." She turns to Chuckles and adds, "My hands have to be clean for the mold. Got a sink or something?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1232, Shooting Range, Seattle


Chuckles nods and motions to the restrooms as Mr. Black takes some equipment from inside one of the rifle cases and begins to set it up.

Meira heads to the back and washes up, glancing around. It was in better shape and cleaner than she'd expected, which seemed to be how this gang operated. Coming back out, she places her hands on the table, looking at Mister Black's gear.

Friday 14 June 2076 1235, Shooting Range, Seattle


By the time you come back, Mister Black has everything ready and quickly takes a mold of your hand for him to use for the personalized grip. When he has it he looks over at you. "Are you only going to use that hand or do you intend to use the other as well? If so, I can create a second mold and make another grip for you."

Meira thinks about it for a moment, then nods, "Might as well do both. What's my total going to be?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1235, Shooting Range, Seattle


The arms dealer puts everything away before turning to you, "For you, 20K and it is a good deal. I do not haggle so you can take it or leave it."

"That's fine." She hands over a credstick and adds, "Nice doing business with you."

After paying Mister Black, she pays Chuckles for the range time. "How much for the contact? No one works for free."

Friday 14 June 2076 1235, Shooting Range, Seattle


Mister Black slots the stick and smiles as he returns it to you. "A pleasure indeed. Keep me in mind if you have further needs." He stands and motions for one of his men to pick up the cases before all three of them leave.

Chuckles also takes your money with a smile and a chuckle. "Nah, we're good. I provided you with a name and you are going to provide me with one to fix the system here, right? Call it square."

He makes sure that everything is shut down and cleaned up then walks with you to the door. "I am headed back to the bar, you coming?"

"I gotta grab some food. Suprathyroid gland is kind of a pain like that. But yeah, I'll let you know when my guy comes through with a contact. Thanks again, Chuckles."

A glance at the food dispenser in her apartment told her it was crap, but that's where she was heading anyway. She fiddles with the machine and lets it do its work, then turns to her commlink for some basic research on her client for the urn job.

OOC:

What sort of basic research are you looking for first?

OOC: Things that would come up in a basic directory listing - age, employment status, marital status, etc. Also, any news stories that might pop up that include her name. On another note, sorry for the delay - work swamped me.

Friday 14 June 2076 1250, Meira's New Apartment, Seattle


There is a ton of information on the public matrix listings for one Tanya Marisart, or, rather, Lady Tanya Astasia Marisart. She is the daughter of a British Viscount (deceased) and has been living in Seattle for several years. Her current residence is listed as the Gates Undersound Hotel, Suite U3A. She is a well-known socialite and sits on the boards of several of the largest charities and civic organizations in Seattle. You could spend a lot of time going through photos of her at various social functions and charity fund raisers. She is unmarried, but has been associated at various times with an array of eligible single men. And women. It seems that she is rumored to swing both ways and there are links to a ton of scandal rag articles if you are interested. The scandals do not stop with singles, either, as she has at times been romantically linked with almost as many married men and women as singles. She point=blank refuses to kiss and tell or respond to any requests for information about her liaisons.

She is three months shy of 32 years old and there is no listing of any sort of employment. She lives off what seems to be an enormous trust fund established for her when her parents and older brothers died in a terrible traffic accident when she was 18.

Friday 14 June 2076 1500, Meira's New Apartment, Seattle

While all of this is freely available and much of it is in the current listing of the "Who's Who in Seattle", some of it requires you to do some digging and digging takes time. You realize that you are looking at the tip of the iceberg and that there is a ton more buried in the various gossip rags. However, you 'link lets you know that you need to be moving if you are going to keep your date tonight.

Meira rolls her shoulders. She still has a lot to do, and first on the list is Pug. He had a bunch of new stuff for her. Presumably, anyway. She heads down to his place of business and wanders inside.

"Give me good news. It's the sort of thing I love hearing."

Friday 14 June 2076 1320, Pug's Place, Seattle


Pug looks up when you walk in and smiles at you. "Hey, Meira. How's it going. Got pretty much everything you asked for. Come take a look."

He leads you into the back and takes you to a storage crate that has a coded maglock securing it. He touches a plate near the lock and you see your name appear on it and a sophisticated scanner glides out of the crate at eye level. He points to the lock and motions for you to do your part. This is not your first visit here and you know he is waiting for you to provide a DNA sample and retinal scan before he unlocks the crate.


OOC:

Can you work up the base costs of what you ordered and add 20% for anything normal, 25% for restricted and 30% for illegal. Add an additional 20% for anything with availability 15-20 and 40% for anything with availability 20-24. I reserve the right to say that he is having a lot of trouble getting anything greater than availability 24.

Pug doesn't screw around - that's why he gets repeat business. A mouth swab and a retinal scan later, she watches as he pops open the crate. A sly grin spreads across her face and she cracks her knuckles.

"Merry Christmas to me."

Three armored clothing dresses - two casual and one for tonight. All with four concealed pockets, but none of the other fancy addons her go kit had. A green Berwick dress with black highlights and a black Berwick dress with green highlights, again, with four concealed pockets. Then there was the second skin. Just looking at it, she didn't even know how they managed a single pocket, let alone two. A half dozen trauma patches brought her total up to 25926Y.

She offers a cred stick, then another. While he slots it, she gets to carefully packing her duffel bag.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Pug."

Friday 14 June 2076 1400, Pug's Place, Seattle


By the time you have everything inspected and packed up, it is 1400. Pug smiles as he slots your sticks. "The pleasure is all mine, Meira. So, these dresses are a bit out of the norm for you. Have fun with them."

"Yeah, I got hired to run security on a guy and he got about half an inch from my shock weave. I'm not convinced I could have held my laughter if he'd gotten knocked on his ass, and that might have ended my contract."

She disables her commlink momentarily, ending all of her wireless functionality, including the AR overlay.

"There's one other thing I need, and I might just be paranoid, but I want a handheld scanner. Trying to detect if my place has been bugged. I got myself a safehouse, but I need to appear to still be living at the old place to casual observers. So... got any housing like a wearable? You know I don't do chrome, but I'd still like to keep my scanning as discrete as possible."

Friday 14 June 2076 1400, Pug's Place, Seattle


Pug nods and places a finger alongside his nose. "Got just the thing for you, girl." He walks over to a shelf and unlocks it, taking something from inside, bringing it to you after resealing the shelf. He hands you what looks like a bracelet of silver links and three red stones. "Here, look at this. Just a fairly normal bracelet, not too showy but not too cheap, either. You can wear this with just about anything. The rubies are genuine, so you could attract a bit of attention from the wrong sort of people, if you catch my meaning. The setting for the central ruby is your bug sniffer. Better range than some, but it is limited by its size, so you need to be within, oh, three meters or so to get a possible hit and you will get most things within two meters. Closer and you should get anything except military grade stuff. It is wireless but you can activate it while dark by twisting the setting like so. It is good for six uses of about a minute each then needs to recharge. If you leave it wireless on, you can recharge it one use per hour of downtime. Another nice feature is that you can change the color of the chain from gold to whatever color matches the clothes you are wearing.. Now, I did say that the rubies are real and the tech is pretty SOA and so is the cost. This will run you 13.5K. Interested?"

Meira tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. It is, indeed, pricey, but it's also exactly what she's looking for. Even if she was good at negotiating, she'd decided a while ago to not be a pain in Pug's ass. It was more valuable to have him willing to find what she needed.

"Perfect."

Friday 14 June 2076 1400, Pug's Place, Seattle


Pug smiles broadly as he hands you the bracelet after slotting your stick. "You have any more money you want to give me?"

Meira chuckles and slips on the bracelet.

"Not at the moment, but you know this is my favorite place to shop."

She turns her commlink back on and adds, "Sorry about that - thought I was switching AR overlays. Looks like I got a case of the gremlins today. I'll give you a call next week."

She heads back to the safehouse to drop off her new gear, with the exception of the dress for tonight. That she takes with her back to her normal place. She approaches cautiously, scoping out the area before heading near her door.

Perception: 9d6t5 3

Friday 14 June 2076 1440, Meira's Home, Seattle


As you approach your home, you see that both Matt's and Ralph's cars are parked out in front of Matt's house. There are two young women, one of them the pregnant girl from across the street, walking on the sidewalk across the street and a couple of kids are playing in a yard three houses down from yours. Other than that, you do not notice anything odd or obviously out of place.

Meira approaches the front door, then activates the bracelet, giving the place a brief once over under the guise of dropping off her bag and heading to the kitchen for a drink. It wouldn't be the most thorough search, but it should, hypothetically at least, pick up bugs in the most likely places. Given that she only had a minute at a time for it to function, it was her best bet for now. After mixing her drink, she looks down at her counter top. She erases "review security footage" and checks off "meet with Volley". Groaning at the realization that she hadn't been keeping this properly updated, she erases the whole list with her palm and washes her hands.

Looking out over her mess of an apartment, she briefly considers cleaning the place up as a cover for checking for bugs, but remembers that uncharacteristic behavior will sell her out too. Might be worth having a glance at Matt's new security, and possibly see if Ralph got in touch with whoever had a possible job for her.

Friday 14 June 2076 1445, Meira's Home, Seattle


It takes less than a minute to find the first bug. It is hiding in a lamp in the living room and you get a ping on the bracelet as you pass withing two meters of it. Pretending that you have not spotted the thing is hard, but you manage to continue to walk through to the kitchen and get your drink.



OOC:

Wasn't sure what you wanted to do with the bug or how many charges you want to use. Remember that it takes an hour connected to the matrix to regain one charge.

Meira furrows her brow and quietly sips her drink. Either the team that was in her place had low quality gear, or this bracelet was amazing. She hopes for the latter, considering the price. She considers her next move for a moment, then heads into her bedroom, activating the bracelet a second time as she takes the party dress out and hangs it in her wardrobe. Trying to get all the corners, she gathers up her makeup, which is "fortunately" already scattered haphazardly around the room. Some of it was still in the bathroom as well.

Her final charge of the bracelet is used in the bathroom, as she organizes the makeup into some semblance of readiness. Following that, it's back to the kitchen to watch some daytime trids. Killing time while the bracelet recharges and looking normal at the same time is the hope, even if acting isn't her strong suit. Knowing the dead zones of the bugs would be key, so she could work sensitive activity around them.

Friday 14 June 2076 1450, Meira's Home, Seattle


By the time you finish with the last charge, you have found four bugs. One each in the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen. The wireless connectivity sends your 'link a quick message, letting you know that all are R6 devices with photo and sound sensors.

Settling in to watch some daytime dramas, she considers her options carefully. Palming a dose of kamikaze is easy enough, and she could maybe get away with the whip if she was careful and lucky, but she wasn't going to be hiding a heavy pistol anytime soon. No cameras outside that she noticed, but leaving her baby under the doormat didn't appeal to her much either. Also, if Matt was picking her up, it might raise some questions when she reaches for a pistol and straps it to her thigh on their way out. Her old military buddy was going to be busy around this time, so no help there.

Deciding to let the solution brew in her head a bit, she keeps watching brain dead trids until the first charge of her bracelet returns, then switches over to instructional dance video and makeup tips for another hour while waiting for the second.

OOC: Acting group 1 -> 2

Friday 14 June 2076 1700, Meira's Home, Seattle


As the second charge returns, you get a text from Matt. >>Hey there, Meira. Just checking to see how you are doing. We are still on, right? I have been looking forward to this since you agreed to come.<<

Meira furrows her brow at the text, then looks at the time. She'd need to get ready soon, and she still hadn't come up with any good way to dodge the bugs. They were expensive ones too. She had one idea that might work once if she was lucky, but sure as hell wouldn't work twice. If this place wasn't such a mess, it wouldn't have a prayer. Giving them an eyeful couldn't be avoided without tipping them off, but she could at least attempt to hide her equipment. She thumbs out a response, "Thanks for the reminder, I was watching brain rot again."

Finishing her drink, she heads out to the living room and peels off her shirt, tossing it toward the lampshade to block that camera. She carefully removes her two concealed holsters and her kamikaze and places them neatly on the floor together, then resumes stripping as she walks toward the bathroom, chucking other items of clothing in random directions, not all of them even ending up in the same room. After a shower, she puts on her new dress - a possible candidate for the infamous "little black dress". It was lower cut than what she would normally wear, and had very little back to it. After applying her makeup, and not bothering to hide the tattoo this time, she goes back into the living room and grimaces, realizing both holsters would have to be strapped to her thighs in this slip of cloth.

After attaching the weapons, and placing the kamikaze in a concealed pocket, she goes back to the kitchen and grabs her commlink, checking for messages. As 1900 approaches, she grumbles to herself, but loud enough for the sensors to pick up, while walking quickly into the living room. "I need to pick all that crap up in case I bring him home tonight."

She goes around gathering her clothing, and considers stuffing the armload into her dresser without bothering to fold or hang it, but thinks better of it when she remembers the last time she electrocuted herself doing that. She hangs it, though admittedly less than neatly, and closes the dresser. Looking at the time again, she grins and lets out a sigh of relief, then goes back to sitting at the kitchen counter while she waits for her pick up.

EDIT: autocorrect failures.

Friday 14 June 2076 1900, Meira's Home, Seattle


There is a knock at your door at precisely 1900. When you open the door, you see Matt standing there, holding a longish flat box and a bouquet of yellow roses. His eyes travel up and down your body but manage to make it back to your eyes as he smiles. "You look amazing, Meira." He hands you the box. "I did not know what sort of chocolate you preferred, so I got an assortment. Er.....I hope that you like chocolate. And the flowers. Do you have something to put them in?"

He looks quite handsome in his tuxedo, even if he appears to be a bit nervous. Over his shoulder you can see a long limousine waiting at the curb.

Meira probably looks somewhat surprised to see Matt in a tux. She hadn't done her research on this place, and is worried she might be underdressed. Of course, it's equally likely that Matt is overdressed, given that she doesn't know either way. The takes the box, and not wanting to be rude, invites him inside, despite inside being a mess.

"Yeah, I have a vase in the kitchen, come on in."

She leads him into the kitchen and puts the box on the counter, then gets a vase from the cupboard. She leans in and glances wearily at the limo outside and lowers her voice.

"Did you overdo it or did I underdo it?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1901, Meira's Home, Seattle


Matt looks through to the living room as you lead him into the kitchen but he does not say a word. When you ask your question he leans forward a bit and grins. "Heck if I know, Meira. I cannot remember going on a date like this since I was in High School and took April Winker to the prom. I remembered getting dressed in a nice rented tux and buying candy and flowers and arranging for a limo. I have been stag to some social functions since I joined the company, but I usually tried to get out of them. Socially inept, I think my mother said. I was hoping to break the curse with you. You look fantastic and, I am very glad that you said you would come tonight."

He leans back against a counter and watches you put the flowers in the vase. "You know, we do not really have to go tonight if you would rather just stay in and listen to music or exercise or something? I could get out of the monkey suit and order some pizza."

Meira rolls her shoulders and offers an amused smirk. Yep, this guy is clueless. Whoever was trying to keep him on a leash probably didn't have that difficult of a job.

"You're not getting out of this that easily. Let's see what the night has in store for us."

Friday 14 June 2076 1903, Meira's Home, Seattle

Matt smiles at you and walks with you to the door. Once outside, he offers an arm to you and escorts you to the waiting limo. The driver has noticed you leave the house and is outside and opening the rear compartment door as you approach. "Good evening, Miss."

Meira takes Matt's arm and nods at the driver, getting in first. Last time she was in a limo, it was for a job with a Johnson... which, incidentally, wasn't that far off the mark this time, either. It was just an actual client this time. An actual client who thought he was on a date, and had no idea she was strapped.

She glances at the door as she gets in, trying to note if it was thick enough to be an armored limo.

Friday 14 June 2076 1905, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The hem of your dress rides up a bit as you slide into the car and you think you hear a slight gurgle from Matt before he gets in. He quickly averts his eyes from your legs when you look over. The door to the limousine is actually thick enough to be armored. You barely notice when the car pulls away from the curb.

Matt taps a pocket of his tux and pulls out two fancy invitations. "Whew. Would not want to forget these. They should get us into the VIP sections of the club. I have never been to this place before, but have heard lots about it. I guess I can check it off the list after tonight."

Meira pretends to not notice. As long as it's not riding up high enough to show off a weapon, it's fine. It's better for your blood pressure to not stress about everything, and the general concept of this dress is already bad enough.

Meira smirks as she sits across from him. "I'm pretty sure you could have gotten us in with a simple 'do you know who I am?' anyway."

Friday 14 June 2076 1915, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle


No matter how much he tries, Matt has trouble keeping his eyes off your legs and he practically goes pale if you cross them. At your comment, he actually brings his eyes back to your face and smiles at you. He blushes at being caught, then shakes his head. "I never like to use that phrase. It sounds way too pretentious and I would just really prefer people to make up their minds about me without me lording it over them. I am really not that sort of guy. All I ever really wanted was..............................oh, heck. You don't need to be bored by that drivel. So, where do you see yourself in ten years or so?"

"Dead or in jail" probably wasn't what Matt wanted to hear.

"Thinking that far ahead isn't something I'm good at. A nice place in a nice neighborhood, and a very nice car oughta do it, though."

She activates a charge on the bracelet and adds, "We're all one freak accident away from a toe tag. Why stress yourself by planning so far ahead? If you believe in destiny, even less reason to worry about it. Right now is what you make of it."

Friday 14 June 2076 1915, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt is quiet for a moment then he nods and smiles. "I could get behind that sort of thing, I guess. I have not really thought about it in that way. So...........................if I were to try live in the now and try to kiss you, would I end up with a broken arm or a kiss?"

There is a tracker tag on Matt's lapel

"I'm saving the broken arm for when you get handsy." She sticks out her tongue playfully and adds, "Mmm, before I forget, who do I need to call to register for tomorrow's event?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1915, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle



Matt smiles. "Well, at least that was not a complete rejection of the kissing idea, and the bit with the tongue was actually very.....................enticing. As for tomorrow, all of that has been arranged. The big boss is setting you up in a room near mine, although he was a bit surprised at the need for the arrangement. For my part, I would happily share my room with you if you wanted to work on the ruse that I am taken so that the other women stay away from me. You are more than welcome to the bed and I would take the sofa. Up to you and I can fix it with a call."

Meira glances over at the driver through the divider space, and without warning, climbs into Matt's lap. "Why don't you close the divider? We have a few minutes before we get to Dante's."

As the divider closes, she leans over to his ear and puts her finger over his lips. "Keep it in your pants and keep your head clear. I haven't done as much research as I would have wanted before having this conversation, but you're well and truly under thumb, and this is the last time we'll be out of range of a bug for a while. I'm going to get your sister out, but in order to do that, I need you to fill in the blanks for me. What have you promised in order to keep her alive? What proof do you have of her well-being? Who is head of security at this weekend event? How do you know Ralph? And where did you get this suit? Don't ask why I need to know any of these things - we have precious little time."

Friday 14 June 2076 1916, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle


It takes most of a minute for Matt to recover from shock then he puts his hands to your head and turns to kiss you. Between kisses he whispers to you. "The next game; she calls once a week on Wednesdays; no idea; he heads one of the hardware development teams; bought it two years ago; I need help."

After the last of the kisses, which have all been passionate and not completely uncomfortable, you can see some tears in his eyes.

Meira nods, then offers a sympathetic smile. "I told you I do acquisitions. Now you," she fixes his hair a bit, "I'm keeping in the dark just a little bit, but I will tell you this: You have to try to keep going along with it for now. When I have everything I need to pick her up, you won't even know until I call you to come get her. You might not see me for a while after this weekend. My place is bugged, and it's professionally done. I can't keep my equipment there anymore, which means I'm vulnerable if I stay there. Don't worry - they need you alive. I'll think of some unrelated reason to not be there - I have a few friends in a few important places. And if something comes up, you can always contact me. But tonight, you need to look like you're at least trying to have fun. Think you can pull that off?"

Friday 14 June 2076 1916, Limo to Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt nods. "I can try to pull that off. You have no idea how good it feels to have someone else to talk to about it." He frowns. "But I suppose that I can't talk to you about it, either, right? I told Ralph about it some time ago and he told me the same thing. He is using some of the technical assets of the company to try to track the calls when they come in. He says that he is getting closer each time she calls in. He says that he has the state and the city so far. All he needs is the address and he can alert company security to go get her. And now you are helping, too. Maybe you should work with Ralph so you don't waste time overlapping your efforts."

He pauses then adds, "So how do you know your place is bugged? Do you know who did it? You should let Ralph know as it might be important."

"I know my place is bugged because I'm a professional. And Ralph can not know I'm working on this. I don't know if he's been bugged too. You talk to him, I'm just some girl, got it? I'm only talking to you now because I know the only bug in here is the tracking device on your suit. Treat every wall as having ears unless I tell you otherwise. What city is Ralph looking at? It might be a trap."