Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The two women give you a horrible look and flounce away. Matt snickers as he takes your arm and leads you towards the ramp leading to the next level. "That works very well. Thank you."

The second level is not much different from the first, but the music on the third level is more of a high paced, high energy techno beat. There are two burly costumed men at the bottom of the ramp who look over at you as you walk between them. One takes a step in front of you and the other speaks in a respectful tone of voice. "Sir, Miss? Could you please accompany us to the security room on this level. It should only take a few moments of your time."


OOC

What sort of weapons are you carrying and how well concealed are they?

Meira nods at security and gestures for them to lead the way.

"Not a problem. Matt?"

The jig is probably up, but arguing with them won't make anything better. Her best plan at this point is to submit to the security check, and when they find the weapons, explain her role as Matt's personal security.

OOC: Predator V and Monofilament Whip, both in concealable holsters.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The two men at the bottom of the ramp are replaced another pair as the men lead you to the security room on this level. You soon find that you are not the only people being herded into the waiting room and taken into the security room in ones and twos. After a few minutes it is your turn and a man takes you inside, where you see a woman sitting behind a desk, watching several monitors at once. She swivels her head to look at you and smiles as she motions to a chair in front of her desk. A nameplate on the desk indicates that she might by Captain Cowles. "I will get right to the point, Miss. The scanners at the entrance to the VIP section of the club were not operational for a few minutes at just the time you entered the building. As a result, your weapon was missed. Would you please give your Predator to the nice man behind you. He will give you a receipt that you may redeem for your pistol when you are ready to leave. Thank you in advance for being understanding."

Meira has a seat, and nods at the woman's request. "Yes, of course. But you can imagine that in this dress there isn't a lot of room to hide a weapon. Do you mind if I step behind a privacy screen, or something to that effect first? And now that your scanners are working again, you might want to scan the previous floor - I noticed weapons just looking around."

She looks over at Matt and furrows her brow. "Don't look at me like that. I'm running security for you. If the scanner doesn't pick up my weapon - for any reason - it's my responsibility to not volunteer it."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The woman nods and motions to where a scree has been set up. "We are already moving through the other levels as well, but thank you for your cooperation."

Matt does not say anything but he nods.

Meira heads behind the privacy screen and removes the pistol's holster, then adjusts her dress before steping out and handing both to one of the guards.

"That's my baby - take care of her."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The guard nods and smiles as he takes your pistol and hands you a receipt. "I know just what you mean. Turn this ticket in at the weapons storage room on Level 1 when you are ready to leave."

The woman behind the desk also nods. "Thank you for your cooperation. I am sorry for the inconvenience. You may return to the level."

With that the guard shows you out and brings another man in.

Matt looks at you. "Still want to look around?"

Meira nods to Matt, then waits until they're clear of security to speak. "Assuming that was you, that was a cute trick with the scanner. Assuming it wasn't, tonight might have just taken a strange twist." She chuckles and shakes her head, adding, "We've got a lot more planes of hell to descend, and I'm not sure everyone's gonna fall for the waitress line. Brace yourself for fangirls."

She clutches his arm and mockingly over-dramatizes the encounter. "Oh Mister Carson! I like your game so much we should have babies!"

Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt shakes his head. "That was not me. I did not even think of it. But you are right and that woman is worried about something. If the system was hacked, there could be people here that mean to do harm to others."

He looks at you and grins. "Yes, we can sink further into hell if you like. If I remember the book, this should be interesting, and apparently the lower three levels are the restricted ones. Oh, and you might be surprised how many times I have had women come up to me and say just exactly that. Of course, it is mostly just a way to get to my money."

Meira narrows her eyes when Matt mentions not taking the security system offline. If he didn't do it, then he was right about one thing - someone was going to cause trouble. That left two possibilities - either someone was going to start shooting in the immediate future, since security was already doing sweeps and would surely find anything big, or what they had wasn't going to get picked up anyway, and this whole thing was to distract security while they prepared for their little stunt. But that was her problem to worry about - getting Matt wound up wouldn't help anyone.

"You know what I think? The lower we go, the less likely we are to run into trouble from whoever glitched security." She cracks a grin at him and adds, "Just doing my job, Sir. We must sink lower into depravity to keep you safe."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2058 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt looks at you as if he does not understand, then he laughs. "Very good, Meira, very good. Sure, let us descend even further." He sets the ARO guide in the bracelet to the lower levels and the two of you walk down additional ramps to the lower levels. Each level is smaller than the previous one but seems to be a bit more crowded, as patrons try to get the most of the experience. The sixth level dance floor is filled with revelers moving to a hard techno beat. A number of the patrons there are only half clothed and you can see a number of topless men and women in the group. The costumed staff selling party drugs are a bit bolder down here. As you stand and watch the people, Matt nudges you and points to the ramp headed further down. He has to shout to be heard over the music? "More depravity?"

Though the scene is certainly entertaining, Meira's paranoia has already kicked in. An area this densely packed would bode ill for using a monofilament whip. And while it seemed to get worse the further down they went, the fact that the other floors were restricted probably meant there would be less people. Unless, of course, that disclaimer was nonsense. Only one way to find out.

"Wouldn't want to have to say you didn't, right? Onward and... well, downwards, I suppose."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2105 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The security at the ramp down to the seventh level was definitely tighter than that on the other ramps. Your wrist bands are closely inspected by the guards then run through a scanner to see if they might have been regular band that have been altered. Before motioning for you to proceed down the ramp, one of the guards hands you each a decorative mask to put on that covers the eyes and nose and tells you that you are supposed to wear it on the lower levels. The staff costumes on the level were sexy devils and both the men and women staffers had obviously been selected with sex appeal in mind. The biggest difference is that, while the level was small than those above it, there were far fewer people here. You also note that a number of the guests are partially or even completely nude.

As you walk about, you pass by several open areas where you can see pairs or groups of people having sex. The music is softer and slower and the dance floor has several couples swaying to the music.

Meira dons her mask, and looking about the room, chuckles at Matt. "Safe. Well, safe from weapons anyway. You read the book, you say? Then surely you have some insight on what's to come. Come on, let's hear those educated guesses. Besides, it'll desensitize you to that thing we're supposed to do tomorrow. You said it gets crazy, right? Is this a pretty good approximation? This all looks pretty corporate to me."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2108 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt laughs and nods his head. "Yeah, I am not sure if they can keep the levels accurate. This one is supposed to be Violence, the next is Fraud, and the last is Treachery. I think that the book references are mostly to provide a motif for the staff costumes." He waves a hand around. "As you can see, most of the party goers are rather underdressed. But otherwise you are right. I have only been to as few of the corporate parties as possible, but, yes, there was a lot of this sort of thing going on in the evenings. Alcohol, party drugs, and sex, and the sex did not need to be with the person you came with. It seems that there is some sort of unwritten law that says things that happen in the various bedrooms of those things does not go home. All of which is crap and I have never understood the allure. I don't mean the sex, because I can certainly understand that, but not the rampant partner swapping that seems to go on. In my opinion, a man should stay with the person he came with." He holds up his hands. "I know, i know. Pretty old fashioned, eh? That's me, stick in the mud. But that is why I need you there. As a single guy, I would be fair game for every woman there, married or not, and turning all of them down would be a chore. With you around, I just claim to be taken and that is that."

"I mean, you say 'that's that', but if they don't care who they came with, why will they care who you came with? I'll be there, but don't expect me to magically repel all advances, is what I'm getting at. Hey, maybe you can have a drone that flies around you saying 'nope' at anyone who approaches. Nah, probably too subtle for some of the advances you get. Maybe put out a public statement that they need to be a certain level in Vampire Hunter to approach you. At least that adds a filter of some sort."

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Practically speaking, I think the bottom three floors are safest from whatever's going to happen tonight, if anything - mostly because they're harder to get to."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2108 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt laughs. "Certain level in the game. I never thought of that. Maybe I should at that; at least it would show some dedication to the project, wouldn't it?"

At your next comment he nods his head towards the next down ramp and smiles. "With that logic, we should be safest on the bottom level. Interested?"

"Might as well - we came this far, right? Ralph will be disappointed that you're not as uncomfortable as he'd hoped you'd be. This has all the markings of a prank, if you ask me. Or maybe he just thought you needed to loosen up -a lot-. You don't seem like the party drugs type."

She takes Matt's arm and follows him down the ramp to the next floor.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2108 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt smile at you as you take his arm. "No, I stay away from that stuff. Tried some party drugs once a few years back at one of the corporate things and had a very bad reaction. They had to call an ambulance for me. Very embarrassing. So now I have this rep, you know. And, yes, I sort of agree that Ralph might have been pranking me when he gave me passes to this place. Maybe he thought I needed a bit of fun. But he gave them to me a while ago."

You barely have time to look at the next level as you pass from one ramp to the next. The ninth level is clearly decorated as the gateway to hell and the staff is costumed as sexy devils. Nearly all of the revelers here are either half or fully naked, although you do see a few who are fully clothed. One of the guards at the bottom of the ramp checks your bracelets yet again then points to a side room. "Welcome to hell, Miss, Sir. Communal changing rooms are just through there if you are interested in getting the full effect of this level."

An attractive devil stands just past the guard, offering a wide array of drugs. The dance floor is a tangle of writhing, mostly naked bodies. Matt shakes his head and looks at you. "Well? Your call here."

Meira shrugs, "I came, I saw, I decided to stay sober so I wouldn't be hungover while working tomorrow. This is the type of place I go to to say I've been here before. Spending any serious time here is just asking for trouble, but I think a lot of the people here are doing just that. Well, no explosions yet. Coast is probably clear if you wanna bail."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2110 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt looks around then back to you and nods. "Yeah, I think I am good. This sort of thing is not really me, I guess. Right now, the only reason to stay is knowing that when we leave, my time with you tonight will be closing and I will be going back to an empty house." He sighs. "Still, that is preferable to forcing you to stay here."

He offers his arm again and motions to the ramp leading to the upper levels with the other. "Shall we go?"

Meira chooses to ignore the commentary - responding would only take her into another conversation she didn't want to have. Instead, she takes his arm and nods, offering the floor one last glance around before they ascend. The issue with security was still eating at her, but with any luck, they'd be gone before whatever happened was going to happen. Only, luck had never been her thing. She lowers her head, looking at the floor to avoid more distractions, and listens.

Perception (hearing): 11d6t5 4

Friday June 14th, 2075 2113 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


As you step off the ramp at the seventh level, you immediately notice that something is a bit off. There are four security men at the bottom of the ramp up to the sixth level and they appear to be very alert and focused on what is above them. The patrons on the dance floor seem to be oblivious, although you see a man standing in an alert and ready posture near a half naked young woman who has her back to a wall. Something is not right.

Meira stops, tugging Matt's arm. She leans over and hisses, "Behind me. Something's wrong."

She approaches the man guarding the patron and speaks up. "I'm on bodyguard duty, talk to me. And please tell me you got something past security."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2113 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The man narrows his eyes at you as you approach then nods. "The place had a security breach earlier and I think someone got inside with some weapons. Their security is tightest at the entrances until you get to these bottom levels, when it really ticks upward. I thought something was fishy while we up on the next level and drug the kid down here just before they closed the ramps. Did not even have a chance to get her shirt from the locker. You would not happen to have a spare top in the dress would you?"

When you ask your question, he shrugs his shoulders and smiles. "Let's hope that we do not need to find out the answer to that question." He holds out a hand. "Ron Blake."

Meira shakes his hand briefly. "Meira Baquearnith. Sorry, no extra top, but I'm prepared if things get messy. I thought it was weird when they just let me walk in with a Predator. They picked it up later, but by then everyone and their cousin had a piece." She looks over the floor, taking note of the layout. "Let's assume the worst and start from there. Security is here because they have to be, but we can get our clients into a safer position."

Combat tactics: 7d6t5 3

Friday June 14th, 2075 2114 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Ron nods and takes a glance at Matt before nodding. "Already on that. My partner is off looking for a spot........." He holds up a hand then smiles. "Right. Jack says there is not much up here except for the counter in front of the locker area. You just came up from the next level down; anything we can use down there?"

"It doesn't seem to get much better - open areas all the way to the bottom. You might wanna see if the peddlers have any 'kaze. Not exactly a party drug, but worth a shot at an extra ace in the hole. Sure wish I had that K50 right now. It's a beautiful piece. Listen, we need to plan out a formation, so we should talk about what we're good for. I'm sneaky, and I'll need to get nice and close to be useful right now. With this room layout, I'll probably have to lay in wait for them to get off the ramp, unless you have a better idea."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2114 Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The man nods. "Just about the same here once the guards sniffed out my pistols. My partner, Jack, is just a kid I am trying to train up, but he has some decent unarmed combat skills, but probably not enough. Look, we could send our primaries off with Jack and you and I take up positions here to support the guards. Idea?"

Meira nods, "Better than nothing."

Turning to Matt, she says, "This looks bad, but there's nothing I haven't seen before. Keep your head down and you'll be fine. I doubt this is about you personally, but this needs to be dealt with to get you out of here safely. Relax, I've done extractions before. Just keep your breathing under control, and stay put until I go back for you."

She moves up to a blind spot near the door entrance and raises her dress to get to the monofilament whip, grumbling, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." After straightening her outfit a bit, she takes a dose of kamikaze from a concealed pocket in her other hand, listening for the attackers to reach the steps before using it.

Sneaking: 17d6t5 4
Perception (hearing): 11d6t5 4

Friday June 14th, 2075 2117 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt nods and goes off with Ron's young partner, Jack and the girl, whose name you are told is Nicole, while you and Ron go off to find a nice spot out of the direct fire from the ramp. Ron gives you an interesting look as you pull up your dress then nods without saying anything. From your vantage point, you can see that the guards at the bottom of the ramp have been joined by those from the top of the ramp down to the eighth level. They seem to be alert and none are standing about in groups or in the direct line of fire from the ramp above.

Suddenly, you see several of the guards place hands to their 'links at the same time and a series of what you think are gun shots from the level above you.

"Shots fired."

Meira pops the kamikaze and inhales deeply. Her pupils dilate momentarily, and she bares her teeth, clenching her jaw. There isn't much left of her as a person when she's high. This stuff turns the nicest of people into wild animals, and it's not like she had any resistance to it from the start. The grip on her weapon is white-knuckled now, and the cautious part of her anticipation is gone.

Ambush: 15d6t5 4
Initiative (+Kamikaze): 3d6+9 22

Friday June 14th, 2075 2117 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


You hear the sound of screaming from the level above you and some more shots. The music from the dance floor dies and a man's voice comes over the intercom. >>Everyone please remain calm. No one has to get hurt. I am in control of the club and my people are walking among you now. Please place any valuable in the bags they are carrying. Please consider this as if it were a donation to one of your charities and give everything you have. I do not need any SINs or house keys or car keys. Cash, credsticks, and jewelry are sufficient. Thank you for your cooperation. Please do not resist or you will be hurt.<<

The guards on this level are all trying unsuccessfully to communicate with someone.

Meira should have rallied the security guards into a better position. The right call here would have been to bring them under her command. But making the right call was no longer an option when she was high. She was barely able to sit still long enough to stay in hiding. All the lies she told herself about the drugs making her better at her job were just that - lies. All the kamikaze really did was make her more vicious.

Kamikaze duration (x10 minutes): 1d6 5

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Ron puts a hand on your shoulder and whispers to you. "Hey, keep it together. Sounds like it is only a robbery.."

Some calls down from up on the sixth level. "Alright, three of us will be coming down to level seven. All we want it the valuables your patrons have. That is not worth dying for, is it. Please have all the guards stand down."

Meira twitched at the touch, and offered an angry grunt in response. She knew he was right - the client's life was a priority, and fighting these guys might not be worth it. But she was high. At this point, it was a matter of just hoping they didn't make any sudden moves, or make any threats. And if the guards started shooting, well, that would be that.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The guards seem to be arguing, but one, supposedly the senior eventually tells the others to stand down and calls the ramp to say that the robbers have clear access. Three masked men come into view and begin moving through the small crowd of patrons, one of them standing in an overwatch position. Suddenly, one of the patrons steps forward and flings one of the robbers to the ground with an impressive unarmed combat maneuver. The other man with a sack in his hands drops it as he goes for the pistol in his belt and the man on overwatch calmly raises his own pistol and shoots the patron in the chest. Ron swears and shakes his head. "Not good, not good at all.........Shit!"

The exclamation came after the man on overwatch turned and shot one of the patrons and turns to aim at another. Ron races out of hiding, a makeshift club in his hands.

Meira attempts to duck through the chaos and flank the attacker in overwatch, though in her current state, whether or not he sees her makes no difference to her plan. She's barely in range of her target when she brings the horrifically sharp wire down on him.

Sneaking (with kamikaze): 18d6t5 7
Monofilament whip (with kamikaze): 16d6t5 9

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The screams from the patrons, combined with the sharp reports of the guns masks any noise from you or Ron. The monofilament of your whip settles down on the raised arm of the man on overwatch and your gentle pull separates arm and gun from the man, who stares in shock at the stump of his arm that is shooting arterial blood. He opens his mouth and begins screaming. Part of your brain notes that the head of the man Ron was attacking is oddly misshapen, probably due to the impact of the club he has swung with devastating effect.

The gunman on the floor has rolled over and is pulling a pistol from the waistband of his trousers.


OOC

What is your accuracy with that whip? Not that it matters in this case, but it might later.

One down... so much blood. She was out in the open now, with one of the most infamous weapons on the street. That puts her at the top of the geek list, unless a mage decides to show up. No telling how many others were roaming about the club, but every attacker on this floor needed to take a dirt nap - fast. She whips her head back and forth quickly, searching out the last one, and charges in his direction, bringing the whip down on him.

Monofilament whip (with kamikaze, opponent prone): 17d6t5 4

OOC: Accuracy is 6

OOC

I am sorry that I did not paint this picture better. The guy on the floor with pistol is the one that the tourist through down. The guy missing an arm is in shock and not doing anything except watching himself bleed to death. Do you wish to switch targets?

OOC: Ah, okay. I'll edit my previous post to target the other one.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Locked in the Kamikaze haze, your heightened senses easily allow you to pick out the man on the floor with the upraised gun arm, the pistol pointed directly at you. Two things conspire to interrupt him as he tries to kill you: first, a thrown club smashes into his gun hand, causing suddenly nerveless fingers to drop the pistol and, second, your whip as is wraps around the same arm, slicing it off just below the elbow.

The screams of frightened patrons mix with those of the man on the floor as he rolls about in agony, trying to stem the flow of blood. The first man you attacked crumples to the floor without making a sound, too lost in shock to do more than die. The security guards are also moving again. One grabbing a medkit from the small security office while another pair are trying to help the two patrons that were shot. A fourth guard is standing near you, his gun in his hand put pointed at the floor.

Meira retracts her whip, but maintains her grip on the handle. She turns her head to the nearest guard, and growls out through gritted teeth, "How many upstairs? How many guards? Casualties?"

She starts glancing around at this point, then turning her head quickly side to side, clearly on edge. Finally her gaze fixates on the ramp going up, as if expecting more trouble.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


The man you are addressing seems unable to look beyond your hand, where blood is still dripping from the handle of your whip. Ron carefully steps closer and looks you in the eyes. "Hey calm down, OK? Our principals are safe, right? No point in inviting more trouble or more publicity. Are you able to control yourself?"

Meira glances about, and offers a nod.

"Still have to get them back out. If all we have to do is offer an escort to the limo, fine, but there might be more people on the upper levels."

OOC: Sorry, work and holidays caught up to me.

Friday June 14th, 2075 2120 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Ron nods. "Yes, there probably are people on the upper levels, but they are the responsibility of the security here. Our presence up there right now, could start a blood................."

He is interrupted by the sound of a voice coming from the man whose arm you had severed. >>Jack? Sitrep. Jack? Come in, Jack.<< One of the security men gingerly steps around the blood pool that has formed around the dead man and rolls him over. The gunman has a 'link fastened to the outside of his clothes.

Meira looks at the commlink briefly, then goes back to where the clients are hiding and crouches next to Matt.

"You alright? How are you holding up? Got it together enough to trace a commlink? I'm not convinced we got them all, and this place only has one way out."

Friday June 14th, 2075 2121 Level 7, Dante's Inferno, Seattle


Matt is sitting next to the other private guard and the woman he is protecting. He smiles and stands as you come up to him. "Yes, I am doing fine. Much better than those guys. Let me see the 'link."

He walks with you back to the guard with the device and you see Ron walking past you to go see to his own charge. After a minute of wrangling with the security guard, Matt has the 'link in his hands and turns away so that only you can see him. He winks at you as a jack of some sort extends from his palm and he plugs it into the 'link. His eyes don't leave your face for a few seconds, then they open wide just before he unplugs from the device. The jack has disappeared back into his palm by the time he turns and gives the 'link back to the security guard.

"There were apparently a dozen men in the group. These are the only casualties. Their leader was arguing with someone about staying to finish the job but was overruled. They are all leaving....well, except for these three. I tried to follow the line through the matrix to get to the boss, but it was very well encrypted. I was breaking the code when it just shut off. Nothing to go on from this end. By the way, have I told you yet how marvelous you were?"

"Heh. Not most people's reactions." She turns to Ron and adds, "They're supposedly trying to retreat, but they might have poisoned the intel if they suspect we have it, so keep an eye out for gunners on the upper levels, and especially outside. Do you have a vehicle ready to get your client out of here? We're ready to move when you are, but I'm not leaving you three to get blown away out in the open and I'm sure as hell not waiting around outside for your driver to show up."