"No barbie doll, you can't. You should've learned that lesson last time you thought your performance skill can compete with modern technology. It's not just a cool gizmo either. It's a professional tool."

She turns back to Chaim, who addressed her in the first place.
"Sure, give it to me. It might take me a couple minutes to comprehend the software behind it, but I'll give you a nice Aztlaner. Is it already configured to your shape of face? I'll try and make it not too different from your visage, but recognizably not the same.

And to correct Anna: We don't have any clue yet of whether or not the spider's girlfriend is doll-like at all. For all we know she might just as well be a bad-ass biz wiz. Don't let prejudices cloud your judgement. And stop thinking all people are like you. They are not. Zum Glück."

She chuckled "I'll get the impersonation thing to fool voice recognition, I'll find a spell for that if I cannot naturally learn to do it. You can construct a whole new face to people with prosthetic cosmetics, I can turn you to a Klingon even. You first create the bone structure and then use a lot of makeup to make the skin color appear natural. Unless this thing fools retinal scanners and the like - I can duplicate it with enough hard work."

"Whatever. I'll never quite penetrate your mindset. As long as it does make you happy and does not make me dead, I'm fine."
bnc orders one of the drones around to serve her a drink - some ready-packed planter's punch or so - and makes herself comfortable on the couch.
"Any last words to me?", she asks, before she goes full VR to properly concentrate on manufacturing the mask.

Once the talk turns to the practical Chaim and bnc find a better rhythm. Chaim doesn't know if giving as good as he got earned the decker's respect, or simply that she's glad that he finally got to the fragging point, but at the end of the day if the cred is good and he's still breathing, it figures it doesn't really matter.

Then Anna says, "I'll get the impersonation thing to fool voice recognition, I'll find a spell for that if I cannot naturally learn to do it. You can construct a whole new face to people with prosthetic cosmetics, I can turn you to a Klingon even. You first create the bone structure and then use a lot of makeup to make the skin color appear natural. Unless this thing fools retinal scanners and the like - I can duplicate it with enough hard work."

Chaim turns to her, "What's a 'Klingon?' That some sort of troll subtype?

"Anyway, it's no good against retinal scanners, or voice recognition, but I'm pretty good with voices on my own. If we need to beat a retinal scanner, we'll need some extra equipment, or do you have mojo for that? . . . Are we going up against a retinal scanner that we know of?"

While bnc's cooking up a Aztlaner to go -- and doing a hellavu fine job of it too! -- Chaim thinks about the plan with the security spider and his girl. Looking at Anna's dress an idea comes to mind. "Ya know, I don't think that's my size, but I've been known to strap on a pair of heels when the occasion calls. I'm told I have the cheekbones for it. Maybe while you two are working the steady I go for the spider and see about putting him in a compromising position. Nothing fancy, just a straight honey pot thing? Other than that, I don't have much to add."

She replied "Well - apparently it is very difficult to fool voice recognition without augmentations or magic they have these sensors that measure things beyond our senses. There is no real need - but I love a good riddle, if Torrent could do it with his physical magic then there is a chance that I can come up with a spell that has similar properties - or perhaps I can use a device that transfers these voice modulations that we don't normally observe to within my normal perception and then I can practice until I get it.

I used to impersonate many people and am a bit frustrated that technology is so much better at it than the human year..."


When Chaim asks about Klingons "They are creatures of fiction, they have their own language even - it sounds a bit like Or'zet. They have very distinctive bones on their foreheads..."


Anna scoffed "You seem to be eager to get into my dress..." Sizing him up she added, "I doubt you'll have the chest for it though... I'll go for something with less cleavage and more ass. Want me to dress you up? See how feminine I can make you? "

Slobber sarcastically wiggled his fingers in the air.

"I put on my robe and wizard hat. I cast a spell and turn you into a real pretty lady"

Anna uses the distraction and cast a low force invisibility spell on Chaim, trying her best to hide the actual magic.
She blinks in surprise and then asked Slob with an impressed look "Wow! How did you do that...? and can you bring him back?"

Slobber blinks but quickly composes himself with a witty retort. "Oh, you didn't know?

"I channel powers through Zelda. She part-timed with her previous employer as a Fu-Dog and still has some latent magic I can draw from for really cool party tricks."

"Duh." He sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth.

"Leave the retinal scanners to me. Wouldn't be the first one I raped.
Uhm, how exactly are you going to turn into a girl? I guess, prosthetic cosmetics won't do to cover the fact you have hairy balls, will they?"

bnc sees through the trick, but decides to play along. She quickly downloads a 3d trid image model of the first beauty she finds and projects an ARO the very place where Chaim stands. bnc is not sure whether Slobbertooth and Anna have their AR modules on, but hopes so. If they do, Chaim reappears as a woman with a puff and a cloud of smoke.
"Nice boobs, Chaim. Don't make me envious."

Chaim regarded Anna and her coquettish smile. This one could be trouble.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind . . . but if you insist."

And then things get weird. While Chaim is disappearing, re-appearing, having an overlay of an early Maria Mercurial put down in his place in AR, he's wondering exactly what kind of team Dr. Schmidt had put together. There were worse welcomes one could enjoy, to be sure.

To bnc Chaim says, "I don't turn myself into a girl. Just a little makeup, a change of outfit, a really nice push-up bra, and I'm usually in biz. It's close enough, or with modern sensibilities close enough for most guy's tastes." He smiles and affects his best slow blink.

"What do you we know about the spider? Hangouts, that sort of thing? Do most of the crew hang pretty close on Council Island most of the time? I'd imagine so, but if there's some commuting going on, we might be able to use that to our advantage."

Anna stops the spell and laughs "Nice teamwork guys!"
Addressing Chaim she shrugs "There really is nothing that prevents you from talking business, is it? Spider has some blood pact, and we planted a neuro stun grenade down his vent. Should take him out - but now I just practiced with bnc how to spot biomonitors on people. If he has one than knocking the spider would raise an alarm. So I am going to look for one - and if there is... well I'll let the brainiac figure it out.

I am not sure that I understand why you want to seduce mister spider but it seems like an exciting thing to do and I get to dress you up like a chick... Which I find strangely interesting. It should be fun and exciting and I am all for it providing we can come up with a plan that makes sense as well - having fun is just a secondary objective in this gig."

To herself, she thinks "As Flatline constantly reminds me..."

The old ork beamed an AR image of a list of facts into the air:


Guards not on shift stay at the nearby hotel.
For Matrix security there are three spiders who share each an eight hour on call shift.

Guards:
Group 1
Joi Avis
Page Bark
Delmer Connelly
Rudolph Counce
Corey Doney
Ernestina Eastland
Dan Flannagan
Abdul Gaul

Group 2 This is the group the team met
Shanita Gildersleeve
Benny Guyette
Robt Holmen
Sherley Jaso
Krystina Kulp
Moses Leggio
Sharmaine Mendonca
Kayleigh Pangle

Group 3
Romeo Pohl
Belia Presutti
Glady Schiavone
Antoine Sieg
Rod Snelling
Norberto Spanos
Hugh Stillson
Hal Tamashiro

One Group is always inside the bank, one is on call and one is on leave. Once per week (usually Monday) they are all at the bank for briefings and to deal with large deposits.


Security Spiders:
Darrel Vandemark (0600h-1400h) This is the only spider that lives in Seattle and is therefore susceptible for an attack in the meat
Laure Sutherlin (1400h-2200h)
Foster Stoneman (2200h-0600h)
Their job is mainly being on call and reacting to security problems.

Mage:
Marcellus Fulgham Team placed a grenade ready for remote detonation in the mage's room
Mike Pierce


Spider: Darrel Vandemark

- Was seen enjoying coffee and ice cream downtown at a retro cineplex
- where old-school classics are presented in simple 3D or even just 2D projections
- uses an expensive Transsys Avalon
- his work deck seems to be completely offline.
- visits cinema with a woman, identified by her Hermes Icon as one Jessica Rabiel, software developer at the same firm as himself
- They seem to enjoy each other's company and are talking animatedly about shows and books they both like

- The spider's girlfriend - according to his social media - is Annita Gilbert
- Works as a marketing manager for another small firm within the Aztech conglomerate
- 29 years old
- has a small Beagle called Peppy
- lives in a small flat outside Tacoma only five minutes from the monorail station
- most frequented cafe is the Pequods close to a small park next to the high rise that houses her flat

"So lets talk about this convoluted plan to get Anna on a date with the spider's girlfriend."

"Have you considered asking?"

Anna looked confused "Aha right mage, spider I got confused... but why is the date with the girlfriend? What is it we try to learn?"

bnc quickly removes the ARO, when the jest is finished. She's just about to correct Anna's mistake, when Mike is faster. So bnc uses her now-spare energy to facepalm passionately, muttering something incomprehensibly to herself.

"Puh, easy guys. SloMo, relacib. Sorry, Chaim, but you're not going to crossdress and try to pull off some mucho extraño ladyboy seduction thing. Not because it's yet another one of Anna's pervert fantasies - Chime, get used to it. She does that kind of thing - but because it's stupid.
First, let's assume, Chaim is successful. The very latest moment, where Vandemark is going to be suspicious is when the nice lady in red who just asked a lot about his job, pulls out her surely nicely shaped dick.
Second. You don't look like a girl. Maybe you can turn yourself into an ugly girl, maybe you can even pull of some Thai sort of joke. But you don't smell like a girl, you don't behave like a girl, you have no boobs and no waist. You're not nova-hot.
Third. Just no. Because.
Fourth. This dude is most likely already cheating on his partner with a workmate. Unless he's a complete moron, he's not gonna fall for some random masculine chick on the road-side. Please, come up with something sensible.

Let's start again. The reason, Anna, why we're trying to get to his girl, is because we need to find out about security measures, weaknesses, and so forth. For one, it would be interesting whether she knows that he's dating someone else or not, and how hard it would hit her. I suppose, it won't do to make him betray Aztlan, but who knows. It would be something different if they had children already. I'll double-check that but I'm almost sure I wouldn't have missed that.
So we're not seducing anyone - I'll buy you a dick if you need one. Let's stick to the old plan: You meet his girl and talk to her. I slap you just for good measure. Then you introduce your violent bitch girlfriend to her, and we start talking about work.
Chaim, there is something you could do for me. Anna's going to do some voodoo to compensate for my, erm, lack of manners, but I'm still a woodchuck in a vinoteque. Maybe you can stay with me and whisper in my ear?"

Anna looked at Chaim and said "Well... She is always like that with her logic... but at least we get to keep the public slapping. Though, don't listen to her about fashion...
I am sure that there is a very attractive lady down the surface... " she laughed.

"Yah, I'm always like that. Never trust the decker with all her logic and no clue about fashion. Her shoes don't even fit the color of her eyes. How can she possibly point out flaws in a plan?", bnc answers sarcastically.

Anna grinned at bnc "Well it would have been more exciting if you could find the flaws in the plan after I dressed Chaim, did his makeup and took to practice flirting with guys in a local bar... you know to make sure that the plan was solid... "
Letting that sink she grimaced "...but at least you figured about the shoes on your own... I'll take you shopping someday."

"No you won't.
So, Chaim, any thoughts?"

Mike grinned:
"I see this is all going swimmingly. Meanwhile, do you guys need anything? Some dog bait? A dog trap? A dose of dog tranquilizer? Or a combination with a dog catching drone at its center?"

Anna replied to Mike "Nice to see you smiling... I assume Slob wants all these things if he is to go after the dog - but he thinks that plan is stupid. So you'll have to tolerate our nonsense for a bit longer. Or we can call you soon when we decide. I can make you some coffee or something if you like."

"You and Chaim both claim to be incredibly charming, surely you don't need me to steal someone's dog to make a good first impression on a pretty lady."


"Right, bnc?"

"If anyone of us is not able to abduct a dog, he's not worth a fraction of the pennies we get for this job. Question is: What are you doing instead?"

"You could try saying hello."

"Gesundheit?"

Anna frowned "Fine... but do not underestimate the connection from helping someone. Let's see how it goes - perhaps we'd like a dog of our own to walk down the park?"

Slobber blinked, made a face and then said, "We do have a dog," while gesturing to Zelda. She happily barked.

"Though actually, that's a pretty wiz idea. Take Zelda out for a walk, she would like that." Zelda barked again. "While your out, go chat up Mrs. Spider with her dog and ask about whatever breed she has to break the ice. Then use your natural charm to get more information about Mr. Spider.

"You know, like a sane human who doesn't need to steal dogs to make friends."

"You really would trust me with Zelda? What breed is she? How old is she, what is he favorite color... Does she have any children?"

"Trust you with her? Where would you run to if you screwed up?"

"She's a Tibetan Mastiff. She isn't very old, but we're not sure because she was rescued from some abusive owners. Her favorite color is obviously green. As for kids.."

Slobber looked Zelda in the eyes. She turned her head sarcastically.

"No kids."

Photo of Zelda dressed up when the team had Karaoke night.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/kOvOAi8.jpg[/img]

"Then let's do it!"

bnc quickly does some research on dog-related topics, creates a handy file with all the important data to impersonate someone who likes dogs, and forwards it to Anna.
Then she goes to her room to dress like a normal person.

"Okay, I can work with that and with the trivia stuff of bnc. I'll switch into something for jogging and take her for a walk with bnc...
With that Anna left for her room and switched to tight running ware. The kind of stuff she would wear to the Gym. It was not long before the two of them left to the park.

The park turned out to be surprisingly well kept - the grass was green, the remaining leafs on the trees red and yellow. Various corp drones used the place to enjoy what passed for nature in the city during the few hours of free time they could eek out from their daily grind.

It didn't take long for the team to locate the girlfriend. She was just bending over to pick up a little present with an inside out shopping bag that her young Beagle had left for her in the short grass.
She looked tired and a short look in the astral revealed that she was probably fighting against a beginning cold.

Anna walks Zelda down the park and then let her run free. She waits for the right moment and then comments "That is a good looking beagle, is he purebred?"

The woman looked up and smiled - even though it looked a bit strained:
"Oh no, Snoops came from a shelter - it's pure coincidence that his Beagle genes are coming forward so prominently."

She took a look at Zelda and her eyes became big: "Is that a real Fu dog?

"Zelda is a Tibetan Mastiff, but we got her from the shelter as well... previous owners abused her but she is recovering. Terrible what some people are capable of... "

"Oh, how nice. It's not easy to keep a real pet nowadays, but Snoops is definitely worth the effort."
As if to underscore that sentence, the Beagle came bounding back to his owner and barked happily for some head scratches
The woman seemed to have warmed up to Anna, as she extended a hand and said: "I'm Annita by the way."

"Bobbie, short for Roberta... Nice to meet you." she smiled. "He is so cute... can I stroke him?" Anna sat and stroke the beagle, briefly. "It is not easy with dogs... I wish I had more time for Zelda, but I am so busy with work, my girlfriend actually takes care of her most of the time. She is between jobs now."

"Ah, yeah, I know how that is. Between my job, Snoops and my boyfriend's weird shifts I barely find any time for anything anymore."
Anna noted that, Annita was quick to point out that she has a friend, but didn't seem to be put off by her.

"Well, we need steal every precious moment we have because there aren't many."

"Too true. Speaking of which I think I should be going now or I won't speak my boyfriend not at all before he vanishes into his matrix games. Nice meeting you Roberta."
Annita said, clipping her leash back on Snoops.

Anna grinned "He sounds just like my girlfriend - she submerges in there for hours." She hesitated for a second and then said " I know it is strange, but perhaps you'd like to meet sometime? We can get a cup of coffee while we walk the dogs."

"Oh, coffee. Yeah that would be nice. Yeah, a nice hot cup of soycaf." She sniffled a bit. "You know what, that sounds like an even better idea right now. There is a really nice place just down the street."

While you walked to the coffee bar, she asked: "What does your girlfriend do? I mean professionally."

Anna seems happy to talk about her 'girlfriend' "Well... She is brilliant and wants to be a security spider. Problem is, she does not have the right connections to do so. She is originally from Europe you see, so things work differently there." She grimaced "Frankly, I just want her to have something to get off that sofa for. She spends most of the day in the matrix and it feels like she is in a different world. "

"Yeah, because someone has to get some food on the table when you do you art exhibitions and vernissages and drink wine with men double my age."
Even the most bnc-ish way to talk, a mocking, grumpy, insensitive style, just feels a bit different with the spell woven around her. The moment she enters the scene, one can feel her presence. What she said, appeared more like a friendly joke than an actual reproach. It somehow sounded casual, more teasy than angry. Something even made bnc smile - was it the spell or just the unusual reaction her appearance caused?

"I'm Ruth." bnc bites her tongue. She almost said "nice to meet you". This thing indeed does work like a drug. Careful, bnc, don't start liking people.
Still, she extended a hand and offered an awkward (yet somehow charming) smile.

"Oh, hallo. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here too. I didn't mean to abduct your partner.
Nice to meet you Ruth. Are you two living around here?"
Annita replied

Anna grinned apologetically at bnc mumbling "Sorry..." then she gave the two enough space to talk.

"Never mind, you can keep her, as long as you return her in time to prepare dinner.
Not quite. It takes us more than ten minutes, using public transport. Fifteen, more likely. Did I interrupt your conversation? I hope I didn't spoil her talking on and on about that finger nail painting channel or how gorgeous her ass looks in that new smartfibre dress I bought her last week..."
Again, a short ice-breaking smile appears on her lips. To underline her words, she grabs Anna's buttocks firmly, than casually lays a hand on her shoulder.
Jeez, this is weird. I can get used to that, though...

Annita seemed to be a bit intimidated by bnc's brash words, but recovered quickly with a smile that belayed her marketing background:
"Oh I see. I was just wondering if you recently moved here to get a job. Roberta told me you are currently looking for something. What is your field of expertise?
In our firm we are always on the lookout for matrix environment designers as well as AR-fashion creators."
The group reached the soycafe and Annita hustled inside with Snoops on her heels.
A large soy-latte with extra cream and syrup later she continues:
"I have to admit matrix stuff totally goes over my head. My boyfriend always tries to teach me these matrix tricks, but it always feels so condescending, so I only nod and say "uh-hu" every so often until he stops."

"You are?"
She lightens up. "I haven't dug deep into any field of expertise, but you'll see that I learn real quick. I'd consider myself as somewhat of a specialist in security. To be frank, back in Austria I learned a lot about the topic ... from the other perspective.
I mean, I think I could do environemnt design as well. I have some experience in clear and comprehensible layout, communication, project management, team coordination. But what I'm really pro at, is fending off people like me."

She grins. "What is your job, exactly?"