@Simone Finestra texts >>Did you lose them already - here is the location.

@Kynos I kinda need my car to get past the border patrol, so try to make it quick please. Here's footage I got. I was in the shower...not much to see unfortunately. I pilot the car to the specified location then send it to come pick me up.

@Kernel (where to you pilot the car?)

Kynos replied to Irris: <<No worries, we are nearly there, just need the suits to get Simone and Sovereign to the clinic without them catching anything else down there.>>

Once they had retrieved the suits and Kynos sent the ok to Irris to call her car to her, he turned to the now quite small team: "Ok, since we have only three sealed suits, I'd say Wheely stays up here and keeps an eye on things and is ready in case we need a speedy exit. Just in case, here is another stealth tag. You know, just in case it's your turn to be abducted. Best if you swallow it now. We'll be back soon - hopefully."

Simone puts the suit on as directed and takes her medkit in one hand and puts her ax over her shoulder. "What sort of trouble are we looking at down there, Kynos?"

"The usual: Zombies, ghouls, devil rats, zombie-ghouls, zombie devil rats, devil rat ghouls... you name it. If there are corpses lying around take their head off before they get up. Fragging Shedim all over the place." Kynos said while he opened up the man hole cover and aimed a flashlight down.

Nyx seemed a bit surprised to be put on the spot like that. She had been told she'd be watching after all, and even if she had expected to have to say a word of two, she hadn't expected to be the one doing the talking. It was rather vicious too, after all, if she got something nice, it was all good for the Finnigans. And if she messed up, they could just pretend she wasn't speaking for them.

When all eyes turned to her, she snorted derisively. It wasn't exactly clear what earned that reaction, even if from what she said after that, at least some of it had to be due to Strawberry's offer "I do not have anything to say regarding Nagisa and Yulia, so I will leave that side of the deal alone. Now, regarding the farm..." She squinted "I know you're supposed to give a low offer, we give you a higher one, and we settle somewhere in the middle." She paused "But I'm not sure we can describe what you just proposed as an offer so much as a joke. 500k? Seriously?" She shook her head "Sure the farm is a little banged up at the moment, but that's only a pretty small part of it. The soil didn't suffer at all, so the decrease in value is minimal."

She paused for a second, then continued "And we all know that with your talents, that's the most important thing. Hell, given that the dome was probably mostly used for chemical control and stuff like that, you'd probably tear it down anyway." She snorted again "So I won't even bother play that game of you low me high before you give us an at least somewhat respectable offer."

She didn't even bother mention the profit share part of the deal for a very good reason: it really wasn't her preferred option, and she was sure that none of the others would want to consider it as being a decent option.

Tony's face remained neutral as if gauging what was said. Strawberry, on the other hand, said bluntly 500k is a good offer, this place will bankrupt you. Why are you wasting my time?" she seemed upset.

Tony said "Strawberry, honey... You certainly have done your homework - you got the dry facts down - and I expected nothing less from our Nagisa. She is a decker however - not a businesswoman and knows very little about criminal syndicates. Rest assure that the location is very valuable to us.

It is a remote place secured by an army of drones, while it is not AAA status the police itself has to notify when it arrives to avoid being shot upon by autonomous drones. This is the closest it gets for the Finnigans. The most secure storage place. So despite your flawless math, you are missing the big picture. "

He looked at Strawberry and then continued
"Though, the value of the farm to the Finnigans should not concern you. You are looking to buy this place for yourself. How much does it worth to you? Because nobody else is selling agriculture businesses in this city.
I would be as bold and name our price for the sake of succinctness. We want 2.5 million for the farm." He seemed to enjoy negotiating, did not raise his voice and was sensitive to Nyx and allowed her to add something.

Strawberry hesitated and said "I will not pay you that much, at the very least the Finnigans struggle with money and it does not grow on trees you know. I can offer half as much 1.25 million." She quickly raised her offer but seemed frustrated and looked nervously at Nagisa and then at Yulia, hoping that they'll add something, but the two stayed silent.

Nyx shook her head "You can't if you're not serious about it. If you are however..." She paused "Look, you said it yourself yesterday. In addition to the obvious, the farm is for you an opportunity, for a fresh start, a legitimate one. You'd be your own person, with no one to tell you what to do or how to do it. Just that alone is worth a lot, don't you think? On the face of it, you're replace the Yaks with the Finnigans, and it may not appear to be too big of a change but... You're going from tool to partner. So on top of being legitimate, with your own legal protection, you'd have another layer of protection."

She let that sink in for a couple of seconds, then asked "Don't you think that's worth something?"

@Nyx Strawberry seemed distracted and lost as if someone waved a huge carrot at her and then took it.
She stood up and walks across the room back and forth. Yulia stands up and embraces the lady. She whispers something to Strawberry's ear, and then strokes her hair. Yulia's tail entangles around the woman's leg. It calms Strawberry a bit and after a short moment, she said "Nagi take her to the toilets, wash her face or something".

As the two girls exit, Yulia said "I am sorry about that, she wants it more than you realize, more than she realizes. I know it is not my place to say, but she cannot pay you so much. I am uncertain exactly how much she can afford but there was the face of a broken heart." She looks at Tony and then at Nyx "Please, Give her something."

Maxwell was happy to hear Simone's reply, hopeful even. However, his childlike smile had been kicked into a frown when she mentioned something being wrong with him. He tears off the rest of the clothing he was given and hastily throws on his street ware. The thought of someone perverting his body again while he was unconscious made him feel on edge. Paranoia, anxiety, hatred and anger all mixed and swirled together in his mind. Creating a toxic brew of negative emotions. A rather nervous energy permeated his being cause of this. One of his legs bounced up an down as he sat in silence. Reading what he could of the play-by-play of messages that filled his comm. Maxwell could barely pay attention to what he was reading. For he was immensely subsumed in his own fantasies of revenge. Painting an elegant, graphic portrayal of his vengeance. The mad sorcerer envisioned himself or one of his ghastly spirits scraping off the face of his violators with a knife. Then force-feeding the gory chunks back to 'em. By hook or by crook, he'd make them pay.

Eventually, he finds himself following Simone out of her van. The how and the why eludes him. Maybe she said something to him that made him get up and follow. Or maybe he saw something on the brightly-lit screen that made his legs move by themselves. Which one, if either, nobody could say. Just that he was outside now. With Kynos talking at him. With Simone and Wheely nearby too. Listening to the elf give directions. The mage shakes his head and runs a fidgety hand through his hair. "Evil spirits possessing corpses are of little consequence to me. I've waded knee-deep in the dead and braved their unholy ranks. They can be felled by fire and flame and elemental alike. They should all be serving me instead of running around going boo at night. I'd give them a truer purpose." Said Maxwell proudly as he fits himself inside the hazmat suit. Finding the outfit to more than just awkward looking.

@Simone, Wheely, Kynos Maxwell You arrive at the clinic's closest sewer access which will minimize travel time in filth. it is in a remote neighborhood filled with squatters and the entrance is guarded by a bunch of people wearing junk as an improvised armor and armed with arrows. Looking at you they point their bows and crossbows at you with suspicion. You met them before but they did not get any friendlier since then.

Simone puts a hand on Sovereign's arm. "Let's let Kynos do the negotiations, here."

Kynos had his rifle in front of him and looked with mild derision upon the bows and crossbows:
"Just passing through. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, wouldn't we"

@ Wheely, Kynos , Simone, Soverign The men lower theier weapons. They remain in position and alert. Thing is the manhole you are seeking is nowhere to be seen.

Simone remains quiet. SHe had earlier indicated that Kynos should parlay, and does not want to just jump in.

2 grand eh Slim? I got this car full of cigarettes you can have. Want to call that even?

Slim texts >> Nothing much to do with a car full of cigarettes especially out of the city, 1K?

Kynos continued:
"We need to use that manhole over there - and yes, we know there are zombies down there. That's why we come loaded for bear."

@Kynos Wheely(?), Simone, Maxwell - Kynos has some charm with people. The men show him to the manhole, it is hidden under a rug in an improvised guard post. You descend inside (are you all protected?) the filth, you seem to get used to it by now, and there in the middle of this awful place still lies the tent. As you enter you arrive in a room with lockers and are greeted by a voice that instructs you to remove all clothes before decontamination begins. (in the next room).

"You two go on in, I'll wait here and make sure our equipment isn't stolen. Keep your links on - oh and don't forget to give them back their map."
Kynos told this two companions.

redacted

"Well..." Nyx seemed to hesitate "I could tell you it'd be worth it, and that we could had some other things to sweeten the deal but... I'd rather keep that for after. As a show of good will."

She thought about the question for a second or two, then cocked an eyebrow "Let's see if we can do this: Strawberry pays 1.25 million now since she can do so, and we'll take 50% from the profits until we get a total of one million. Probably not the preferred option of anyone, but..." She shrugged "I think we could all agree to it, don't you think?" she glanced at Tony when she said that. He was, after all, supposed to be the main negotiator here.

@Nyx Yulia replied "This is er... problematic. I think." When Strawberry returns she said "As much as I appreciate this offer I'll have to refuse. There is no configuration when I can get access to over 1.75 M on credit and I need these profits to pay the loans. So this is my final offer - take it or leave it."

"1.75? Hum..." Nyx looked at Tony "This could work for us I suppose."

@Wheely the next rooms is showers and you are instructed to wash throghly, then there are fresh towels that you can cover up as well as another room with an AR catalog, the clinic offers all sort of augmentations at market price.
(used grades)

Sounds like a deal Slim. Pleasure as always.

@Kernel Slim gets you GPS coordinates and instructs you to meet a contact there. "Look for mr. Turtle. Leave the car with the contact and he'll get you into the city."

Simone nods and strips down and stores her things in a couple of the lockers provided. Apparently unfazed by being nude in front of her companions, she walks into the shower area with Sovereign and washes up. After bending over to wash her feet, she turns to find sovereign watching and there is plenty of evidence to show that he has been looking at her with impure thoughts on his mind. She smiles at him and wiggles her butt in his direction as she turns off the water and goes to dry off.

@Nyx Strawberry shakes your hand and said It was a pleasure negotiating with you Nyx, you indeed have some skill. " With the negotiation settled the rest of the meeting is spent on technical aspects. This is done with a bunch of lawyers from both sides that go thoroughly through the contract and finalize the technical details.

As for your own angel, your faction which includes Casa, Finestra and (unless you confront Casa about it) deserves 30% of the profits equally distributed among the team's members. The bad news is that it would take a month or perhaps two to get everything sorted out. In that time you guys would need to keep a low profile for the trial to conclude. At any case, your part of the deal will be delivered by the man that hired you, Mr. Casa.

Once negotiations are done Tony replies "You did good Nyx" Yulia warmly hugs Tony "Tony! I missed you so much." she said. Tony said "My flower, you did well. I am glad that we got you out of sheets. With Strawberry's cash, we can finally buy your freedom." He then looks at you and explains "Yulia here is my previous student, I trained her since she was 11. We were trying to get her out of prostitution for a long time now. It took something really clever and risky to pull it off". Yulia grinned deviously at Nyx and said "He taught me *everything*..." Nagisa shakes both of yours and then Tony's hands and says "Thank you so much."

Strawberry seemed distant, suddenly figuring that she was the only one in that room not affiliated with the Finnigans - or perhaps worse. She was now affiliated as well, with all their criminal activity - she was the one with liquid cash... Tough perhaps the farm was just an excuse for a larger end game? Out of all people she had to buy Yulia's freedom? Did Yulia love her or did she play her - the ginger dryad was silent and pensive. She waited for her lovers to say their goodbye and ignored the situation.

Nyx nodded gracefully at Strawberry. She glanced at Tony then Yulia, shaking Nagisa's hand a bit with some uncertainty "Thanks. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep some people off my back. Speaking of which, I better tell them that..." She grabbed her 'link, and began typing on it >>Team [Nyx]: Strawberry bought the farm for 1.75m, which means our share stands at 525k. They'll need a month or two for things to settle down, so we'll need to stay under the radar for the time being, then we'll get our money.<<

After that, she went to Strawberry "Why the long face?" She glanced at the other two women in the room, then shrugged "I suppose I can guess. Don't be so gloomy though, there are some nice perks to all that. I didn't want to say anything before, to not give the wrong impression but... You should ask to be led to the basement. Someone's there for you."

Maxwell nodded in agreement at Simone's suggestion to let Kynos do the talking. He ignores the junk-armed rabble gathered around the makeshift guard post hiding the manhole and proceeds down into the sewers unhindered. Thankfully, the suit protects him from the horrendous smells of raw sewage just as well as his gas mask does. Better technically, since there's no fear of him accidentally touching some runny shit on the way through. Step-by-step, he follows his companion into the rank darkness. Trepidation weighing inside of him as he goes. The not knowing of what could be wrong with him fills his stomach with a worrisome bile. Making Maxwell want to simultaneously pick up the pace and slow down at the same time.

They arrive to a kind of shower room and to a voice instructing them to unclothe and decontaminate themselves. With lockers lining up the walls. And Simone being the first to strip down nude. To him, it seemed gross and counterproductive to bathe in such a unclean place. But since Simone wasn't bothered by that particular facet, and because she is a doctor after all, he figured that the harm might be minimal. Following suit, the mage also unclothes himself and walks into his own corner in the shower. Cleansing himself of the sweat, dust and dirt that had accumulated on him in the past day and a half. He was busy making sure his hair got a thorough wash when he noticed his friend was bent over. Giving him full view of her womanhood and her puckered behind. Whether this was intentional or not didn't stop him from thinking strongly about analingous. It wasn't until she realized that he had been watching her that he started to feel self-conscious. Not that it mattered much of course. Once Simone saw him checking her out, she grins at him and leaves him with a gesture wanting for more.

After she left, Maxwell finishes bathing and is the next one to leave. Sitting on a bench with a towel wrapped around his waist and with another draped across his shoulders. He sat patiently and waited for someone to direct him to the next part in this process. Else he'd grow bored and help himself.

@Nyx Strawberry seems surprised "The basement?!" she asks.

@Maxwell, Simone following the showers you pick a towel robe and proceed to a small display where you can select the desired augmentations out of the clinic's catalog.

Nyx nodded "Yep, the basement. It's... Well, you'll see I suppose."

@Nyx She answered "Should I be worried? Where is that basement?"

"Worried?" Nyx shook her head "I don't think so. Well, not unless I was lied to anyway. It's..." She seemed to hesitate for a bit. How to describe that? Strawberry would probably be happy to find her son, but she probably wouldn't like that he was now a vampire. The question was, which of those two reactions would prevail, and that wasn't something Nyx could answer. "I can't tell you if it's a good or bad thing. Probably both, but that'll depend on you." She paused "Mostly." After a second, she shrugged "But however it ends, it'll be something important for you. You probably should have someone wait for you outside though."

Strawberry seems difficult "Now you are about as clear as Pan..." She pauses and then suggests "Would you accompany me then?"

"Uh..." Nyx seemed unsure "When I said you should take someone with you, I meant someone to hug, someone to dance with... Or a shoulder to cry on..."

She shrugged "Fine, come." Nyx motioned for Strawberry to follow "Just... Well, don't expect me to be of much help if you end up crying..."

@Nyx Strawberry grimaced "Cry...I haven't cried since... well since before I called myself Strawberry" She added "Lead away to your creepy basement.".

"Sure." Nyx nodded, and led Strawberry to the basement. Given the way she proceeded, it was obvious she didn't know much herself about the place, but after some time, she reached the last door. "Well, here we are." With a small wave of her hand, she indicated the door, inviting Strawberry to go through.

Arriving at the basement, there is man, in a room. He seems preoccupied writing on the walls on the ceiling on the floor - the entire room is filled with writings. Strawberry looks at him and then at Nyx "Who is that?" she asked.

Nyx raised an eyebrow "Why don't you ask him?"

Kynos waited patiently with the gear, but he couldn't help but get a glimpse into the shower room:
"You know guys, that you traditionally shower first with your suits on, take them off and shower then yourself to prevent contaminating the insides.
Freeking nutjobs, building a medical clinic in a sewer."

To Nyx message he answered:
<<Probably the best we can expect under the circumstances - good job Nyx. Although that keeping still for a month or two as a condition is really bad for us. Andu certainly will learn about the property change. You could tentatively feel around if someone is prepared to pay for his removal from the equation. After all, no-one wins if Strawberry is captured or killed before she can pay us or the Finnegans.
And don't think I'm greedy, but removing Andu is necessary, but it would be nice to get the expenses covered as long as we don't have our payday.>>

@Nyx Strawberry's eyes widen "Is that... Robbie ? My little Robbie but it cannot be." The man's attention broke "WHAT DO YOU WANT MOTHER!" he said. "What kind of trickery is that?" You ruined everything, they are all dead because of you and I am... an abomination.. She sighed "That you are... I am so sorry Robbie"
His eyes became wet with blood " "They tormented me, tortured me, carried me in a box. I hate you, you did all of that - you and your filthy magic."
"I will grant you peace little boy" she said - as the room started to fill with magical sunlight. The man's face was horrified, he did not even get to scream. After a moment ashes were all that remained of the man.

>>Kynos [Nyx]: I'll ask.<<

Well... To say that Nyx had been expecting things to go that way would be quite the exaggeration. Not that she disagreed, a dead vampire was much better than a "live" one. Funny how that could unite people such as Strawberry and Maxwell... But to do that to one's own son... That was unexpected.

Having nothing to say, Nyx stayed behind, arms crossed under her breasts, waiting for Strawberry to be ready to leave.

She looked at the ashes and sighed "Cruel Finnigans have no more power over him."
she stayed silent for a moment and then concluded Mother no more, I am not the woman that I once was..." Looking at Nyx she said "Long story short, being special can be more of a curse than a blessing. Come Nyx there is nothing for me here."

"I'm not sure the goal was to have power over him. Probably not even over you." Nyx didn't comment about the special thing, even if she wholeheartedly agreed. After all, She was special, and it had only ever brought her problems.

After a second, she nodded "I'll bring you back to the public area where you can wait for the others. If you want to anyway."

@Nyx No, he was there to gain power over me. Probably to punish him the next time I misbehaved. Since I know myself, it was best to get it over with." she follows you to the bar and seats there for a short while until her companions finish their business.

"Maybe. It wasn't very effective if that was the plan though." Nyx shrugged, unconcerned. "Alright, I'll leave you to it. Good day and good luck."

As she left, Nyx sent a short message >>Casa [Nyx]: Hey, Kynos wants to know if there'd be some kind of rewards if Andu and his men, Yakuzas, had some troubles. Of the lethal variety. Oh and speaking of Yakuza, Ayato was working for them and tried to kidnap Maxwell, so don't bother counting him in our shares.<<

The pyromaniac grew increasingly more anxious the longer he sat. He ignored the AR catalogue display and wondered who or where the clinic's physician is. "Proper hazmat bathing etiquette kinda doesn't mean much when it takes place in a sewer, like you mentioned. Also, how long are we supposed to wait? I'm getting antsy sitting here." Replied Maxwell.