With this news, Yael gulped the entire glass in one go... "Congratulations...! Quit while you are ahead... Brilliant!" She said with a grin. Thinking about it again... she wondered how much money does one need to retire? Was the bank job THAT good? Though deep inside she knew that she did not take risks for the money. It went deeper for her, she enjoyed the tension it made her feel alive. Still, fantasizing about being rich and retire, she imagined herself on some tropical island and had a silly smile on her face. With slight amazement, she asked Slob Any big plans? What are you going to do instead?

After raising the glasses, bnc sipped on the Hurlg - though the amount can only be described as 'symbolic'. She is just about to shove away the glass (or whatever it is Hurlg is served in, probably a chemically sealed box or something), when Slobbertooth breaks his news. bnc's face immediately sags.
"You ... you do what? You leave us? Now, at our peak? Why?"

Slobber answered Anna's question first. "Plans? Nothing exciting. Wake up in the morning instead of 5pm. Maybe go to the French Riviera and get a tan so I stop looking like the crypt-keeper. Finally go on a date with someone.Buy my parents a home, and help take care of them as they get old. Live." If he sees a couple of confused looks at the table, he clarifies with a chuckle. "Foster parents." Slob had a big grin on his face, but it wasn't his usual sarcastic smirk.

Slob composed himself and answers bnc's question. "It's a long answer, but I'm retiring, so give me these cycles as gift, eh?

"I didn't get into this job for Nuyen, and sure as drek didn't join the game to 'save the world'. I was young and listened without question to a spirit who called out to me at their death, who told me I only by hunting their killer and protecting my new family could I be happy. I've heeded his call, and found who killed my parents. She's dead now, and her son is traumatized. That was months ago, maybe I'll be happy when I leave this."

He sighed and continued, "The only reason I signed up for this job was because it was supposed to be a pretty simple smash and grab, with the promise that I would finally get the cops off my back. 10 people are dead because of us, 7 of them innocent bystanders. They bystanders aren't dead at our hand, so my conscience will eventually settle down, but their deaths are our fault. We don't enter that bank; they don't die. Kite's dead because we underestimated Zola. That could have been any of us, it was nearly me.

I'd like to get out while the getting is good. I know enough to know that isn't how it works in our line of work. I've done it for nearly a decade. We're more likely to end up dead, captured, burned out, crippled, or worse. In the two times I've worked for the good doctors, I've killed two blood mages. Ending up dead seems like one of the nicer outcomes if I keep working for him. I'm good at hurting people, but I don't have many other skills. I'm tired of shooting people. I'm tired of being away from my family. I want to go home. Retiring seems like the obvious choice."

Slob had a light countenance on his face as he spoke about why retired, but as he finished it shifted. He's eyes lowered at bnc and Anna, and his tone became slightly accusatory.

"Anna you were in college, and can now go to any school you want. With this money and an education, you should be set for life. bnc, you panicked when you first saw blood, but you want to see more. Why are you two staying in this drek profession?"

bnc listened quietly, slight traces of pain and regret surfacing on her face despite her efforts to contain them. When he starts explaining, she opens her mouth to reply but hesitates. As he goes on, she instead just takes a sip of her orange-and-coconut-flavored beverage, nodding a single in a resigning fashion.

She sighs, then turns toward Krestov. "Krestov ... I guess, you too have reached your destination, haven't you? You can have a life now. Maybe we can even wipe your name clean. Wouldn't that be an awesome run? Ripping apart government and Knight Errant only to clear your name..."
bnc shakes her head, realizing how foolish everything sounds. She takes another good sip of her pseudo-rum, and avoids the gaze of both men.

When he asks why she wouldn't leave, bnc actually ponders a bit on the question before she answers (giving Anna time to answer first, if she will).

Krestov shrugged and answered even more subdued: "Da. I have obligations. To you but also to other people. I'll be there if you need me."

Anna sighed "My college degree, even if I ever completed it... would burn along with my Anna SIN. After this show, I'll be afraid to show myself at the university again. Police might dig through the SIN Schmidt gave me and then uncover the Anna SIN and then when they dig link it to my SINless identity. It is a risk - and if they do it it may be difficult to go back to my old life. Schmidt was able to recover my name so it is not impossible to do and let's say that we gave the coppers plenty of motivation to dig deeper.

I lived in the gutter and was already a criminal before I turned twelve. Since then I was involved in gunfights, stealing, begging in public places and as I matured I started conning people for their money. Acquiring an expensive fake SIN was the most illegal I did before joining college and developing my gifts... Given what we just did... few years in college only made me a bigger criminal...

You see, on the surface collage was great, it was my opportunity to be what I always wanted to be - a SINNer - a boring regular SINNer that can go to college and end up in a cooperate job. It was a sweet illusion, though I knew that my SIN was fake so I avoided anything that would make it inspected too hard and tried to support myself with odd jobs - that did not require formal employment contracts and background checks. Which is why I was so broke until we met... and perhaps why I was tempted to do this gig with you guys.

It is deeper though, I had plenty of friends, I played in a band and I am quite popular really. Though none of these friends really knew who I am, and why I live so intensely... and if they knew, none of them would continue to be my friend. I am a danger, just knowing me may cost them the cooperate employment they dream about so intensely. My life as Anna is as fake as my SIN, I wanted to be a SINNer so much only to realize that it would not feel real.

What worries me is getting uprooted from anyone that ever knew me. Though honestly, I always was kind of selfish and would have taken the same risks again. I learned to take what I possibly can get away with and consequences are damned, life is too short for my kind. About the moral issue, that monster killed these people for his own reasons. Either he used them to supercharge his mojo or he simply wanted no witnesses to what he planned to do to us. We did the world a favor for ending him. Though I agree that nobody would ever thank us for doing so. I think that we also saved many people by stopping him.

I am happy for you Slob! It is rare to meet a chummer that knows when the right time to quit is. Most of my friends were too stupid to do that and are now dead. You quit at amazing terms, I wish you all the luck! Fun side, I am going to have plenty of time to study and plenty of money to develop my gifts and as you mentioned I can progress independently... and even if I am uprooted from anyone that knew me, I am tougher than I look... I'll survive! Heck, perhaps it would make me as smart as you!"

She filled her and Slob's glass again and gestured at bnc and Krestov. When they each had their fill, she tossed "To new beginnings!". The first shot already made Yael a bit drunk, she talked a bit more passionately and truthfully than she would have otherwise. Though she needed the release and nobody cared about these things in a joint like that... What she was not sure - was how many of these shots she can gulp before completely losing it... Though Yael had no problem of finding out. Getting wasted was better than thinking about that monster... and how she genuinenly was attracted to him.

Slob rolled his eyes at Anna's comment about her life expectancy. This girl could live twice as long as I do and is complaining about how much time she has left. He didn't say anything in response. He was perhaps disappointed, but not surprised. He'd said similarly short-sighted things when he was younger. He expectantly shifted his gaze over to bnc.

bnc smiles a faint smiles. So he really is interested. Yael's story was't enough to just distract him. I guess then he deserves the truth.

The smiles vanishes. She takes a long and deep gulp, then starts to explain. "I guess, it's a multitude of reasons and I don't think I can express them properly. I'll try anyway.
"One, I have nowhere to go back to. What's left of my family, I turned my back to her. I have no true friends in Austria, though I only realized when I left for Seattle. The only friends who deserve that name have declared they are going to leave me this very evening. So I guess I have to find a new way ... I don't know whether I keep running the shadows. I don't know anything from this point. What little perspective I had, crumbled today."
She says this more or less emotionless. Firm, containing all feelings. Analytical, as if it was the story of some flix hero, a distant relative, or if she would explain to you, why she would be interested in philosophy, but never found the time to.
"Two, I need to do something. I can't relax, I can't just lie about and enjoy myself. I need tasks, purpose, goals. I need to grow, to see, to do. If you take me to Malibu beach for two weeks, I would simply waste myself on drugs, fading away, biting and clawing at myself. I need something to distract me from ..." She blinks.
"Three. Let's shortly review my experiences with the legal and illegal parts of the world. Phase 1: corporate life. My first vague memory is my broken father hitting my big sister because I asked him why mommy won't come back and K-"
bnc looks down, biting her lip. Her voice gets softer, difficult to understand among all the environmental noises. It's also shakier then before, less cool. "My sister stood up for me, and received the blows in my stead. I have no recollection of mother, but I could draw the photo in the living room from memory.
"Strangely enough, I remember all this in black and white. The first color I remember, is Dad. Red. Lying in a chaos of shattered furniture, two wholes through his chest, his head a bloody mess. Sis and I lived a couple of days while dad rotted in the kitchen. I'll skip the next ten years or so, because that's not the point of my story. Let's just summarize it was, like yours, not pleasant."
bnc downs her drink and waves for the waiter. She's more composed again.
"Here comes phase two. Finally, some thirteen years later, I found out why that had happened to Dad. I hacked a pirate station called Factcheck and found evidence in their archives that dad had uncovered something that could have become a scandal if he would have gone public with it. A crime has finally satuated my need to find out about what had destroyed everything. I joined Factcheck and helped them uncover bigger deals. For the first time in my short life, I had a purpose. I did something more meaningful than destroying myself.
"Phase three, the real deal. Enter Krestov. My sister was taken away from me by the biggest piece of shit ever. Or maybe I was just being a jealous bitch who couldn't deal with the fact that someone else loved my sister. He was a pice of shit, regardless. After one big fight, I got wasted in a bar and found out the hard way how bad eight-six-eight-two inches can hurt two days after. He took me to the shadows, where for the first time in my life, I found what I think real love and friendship is.
"So tell me, Slobbertooth, where the fuck would you have me go?"

When the waiter comes, she orders a Long Island Ice Tea for herself and two rounds of sweet shots for the whole party.

Slob just shook his head, a sarcastic grin appearing returning to his face. He responded to Anna's story first.

"Yael. You have a new SIN, and law enforcement isn't going to follow you to Europe. You could stay there, study magic, and get the life you say you wanted. You'll open the door with the lie about your name, but it won't be fake. You probably have more practical experience than 90 percent of the students in any university. More than most of the professors, too. The life you build will still be built on your earned abilities and experience. It certainly won't be any more fake than when some trust-fund elf gets a job at daddy's company. You're staying because you enjoy this."

"bnc. I can't tell you where you go from here, because you never said what you want. I do find it interesting that with all the time you'll have, and Krestov around to help you, you didn't mention getting cleaned up, or at least helping you get over the addiction." Slob knew it was a touchy subject so he raised his hands as if showing he surrendered. "I'm not saying you should stop doing drugs. I'm talking about ending your physical dependency on them. You would get a bit healthier, and maybe I wouldn't immediately pick an elf over you just because *I'd break you in half.

"Any idiot, including me, could see why you wouldn't go back to your father. What happened to your sister?"

"That's a simple question: I wouldn't want to end my physical addiction because there is none. I strictly avoid doing any drugs which cause physical addiction. Which is easier than you'd think. There are only four groups that would cause physical addiction: one are opioids, including painkillers, old-fashioned H or Bliss; the second are benzodiazepines - I had to fight a big deal not be forced by my doc to swallow those. The third one are some more recent synthezised drugs, including Jazz or certain combat drugs. I don't do any of those. I only ever took a single joint of Deepweed of which I heard it might cause physical addiction though I don't actually believe it as it's an Awakened form of kelp which would not contain any active substances that would cause one - though you never know with Awakened stuff.
The fourth group, however, is alcohol. And now you see why I hardly drink it at all.

"I may look like the next drug addict, and sometimes I feel like one, but I'm actually quite controlled about my substance abuse. Yeah, I'd still call it abuse, because I don't want to lie to myself, but the only things I do are usually Psyche, Golden Mirror, Whoom, caffeine, a knife's tip of coke here and there and some booze every month or so. I don't look the way I do because of the drugs but because my digestional system is completely broken."
Which derives from my early substance abuse but that's got nothing to do with the question whether or not a withdrawal would help me.

She pauses for a moment.
"No. I'm psychologically addicted, through and through. Ironically, I guess it's the Psyche rushing through my system that augments my capability to talk about these matters the way I'm doing now.
Also, you can't sport eight-six-eight-two, so it's the elf you've got to worry about."

"I might do that for a while... That encounter was humiliating... I sort of wounded and embarrassed myself by trying to recklessly dispell a spell cast by a superior mage. I desperately need to study if I am to survive in this gig. At the end of the day, what you say makes a lot of sense - it is a choice which events define me? My past, upbringing, and family or a future away from anyone? You suggest that I start fresh, yet you seem to go back to your origins."

She listened intently to bnc's story intently and then giggled slightly when more drinks came. "Just get it out of your system dudes..." She said to herself.

Slobber shrugged at bnc's comments. "You know best I suppose. I still worry about it. All you have is your brain and you're accepting that you frivolously risk that one part of you every day, and during every run. I still worry about it." Raising his still unfinished glass of Hurlg for emphasis, "The most I do is have a sip of alcohol after a bad day every few months. Probably not a good habit, all things told, but I've always stayed away from the stuff." He chuckled, thinking of his scars. "I'm terrified of drugs damaging his toned body of mine, I guess."

"You didn't answer the question though. What happened to your sister?"



"Anna, I'm not going back to my origins, at least not to stay there in the streets. I'm going back to get my family out of them. It's the least they deserve after I left. Why are you going back?"

She shrugged "It is not like I am 100% welcomed back... They resent me for leaving as is. As I grew up, even when my parents could not provide for me they did their best and kept me out of some terrible things that could have happened to me. They taught me to steal, to sneak and to evoke emotions such as pitty or guilt in people... They stayed with me when I awakened and initially thought that I was losing my mind. They helped me contain that secret as much as it was possible - and both me and Larry reached adulthood without dying - so they did something right.

Then, I left them for university and since then I am an outsider, I try to keep in touch but well, they can't exactly follow me. They are my pack, I feel committed to them though I doubt I can ever take them out of the streets."

bnc smiles in appreciation as Slobbertooth asks about Kerstin. He really does listen. How comes I lose a friend the very moment I realize that he is a friend?

How comes I don't recognize a friend until I lose them? You're so damn fucked up, bnc. Why don't you coward finally -
Shut it.

"What happened to my sister... Nothing, if you mean something ended her. She's alive and breathing, free, roaming the world and doing whatever a fucked-up gutter rat with a broken heart and an FN-HAR does in a world that's dominated by violence and arbitrariness.
If you mean, what separated us... Kerstin's heart was broken, badly, by the person she trusted and loved most on this Earth.
It was not long before I came here with Special K. Kerstin and I joined Factcheck, as told earlier. She basically just followed me, keeping an eye on me, as she had always done, as long as I can remember. Soon after, however, Factcheck began to grow. I dunno whether it was because of us, or just mere coincidence, but others joined. One of those was a soldier veteran called Dmeyk. PTSD, completely broken. Chain-smoker, nihilist, violent. This one was my fault. He trained me in using Tom. And he took my sister from me.
They fell in love. At first it was just gentle teasing. He was almost twice her age, a ruined veteran. Kerstin was a young woman, barely in her mid-twenties. But things started getting more serious. And step by step, she turned from me.
Dmeyk despised me. He thought me weak, and looked down on drug users because his mother was a fragging H chunkie and he hated her from the deep pit where others have a heart. I despised him no less. He was a rapist, and not ashamed of it. A killer, too.
She didn't turn from me, it's just ... every inch she moved towards Dmeyk, she moved away from me. At first, she didn't realize. Maybe, she never did. Kerstin's not a people person. She doesn't understand how people work. She knew me best, but she never understood me.
I couldn't bear it any longer. One day, after a quite successful heist for Factcheck, we all were euphoric. We unearthed a big thing about the Weinzierl family, a big fish in Linz. Dmeyk and Kerstin began teasing each other. He joked about taking a shower together. Kerstin willingly joined in.
I know it's childish, but I insisted I join, too. I couldn't stand the thought of them two being together, alone, nude. So I stripped my dignity alongside my clothes and joined them. But they didn't stop."

bnc downs both shots in two quick motions. Although her voice is still steady, her eyes clear, tears gather in her bright-blue eyes. She speaks mechanically, rewinding a tape that has been stored away for a long time."When he slipped the gel, and Kerstin ostentatively bowed to take it up, a string tore. The only one thing I wanted that moment was to hurt her for hurting me. And I knew the one thing that would hurt her most.
I put on my shortest skirt and my tightest jacket. I painted my lips black, powdered my face white in a "I'm such a poor girlie" fashion. I let a tattoo appear on my neck, saying "Tame me if you can". I aimed for the kind of guy who would abuse an already broken girl, the lowest of shit. It would kill Kerstin to know that I would ruin myself because she betrayed me."

bnc shoves her hand into her jacket and pulls out a silvery patch. You've seen her Whoom before, a tranquilizer that would basically turn her into an untroubled toddler for a couple hours.

"It didn't quite work out. At first, it did. I achieved exactly what I wanted. But then a troll in shining armor appeared and banged some heads.
Weeks later, Kerstin received a single message from a burner link, then nothing.
Probably she'd think I'm dead, but I didn't even have the mercy to fake my death to give her at least security.

Like I said, Kerstin's heart was broken, badly, by the person she trusted and loved most on this Earth. Me."

Slob raised a fist and pointed a finger at Anna, celebrating victory in a game that only existed in his head. "Ha! I wasn't the first to describe my family as a Pack. Wolf owes me a soykaf now."


Slob put a hand on bnc's shoulder, gave a smile, and then started laughing as he brought her into a hug with his right arm. "Oh you silly netfet, you. You're not getting absolution from us, and you wouldn't accept it if we gave it to you. You probably won't even accept it from your sister. You ran away from your home and job and went on a bender because your sister dated a drek guy. And fucked him in front of you. Of all the things to keep running away from, the disappointment that your sister can't love you romantically is a new one.


Slob sighed, and though he meant it to be endearing, he probably patronized bnc by running a hand through her hair. "I'm sure you're worried about your sister, considering she went away with a psycho person. You make it sound like she's dating Kynos. Hopefully not that bad.

"You have a knight in a shining armor, an experienced mage who will lie and say she's isn't doing it for fun, and enough nuyen buy anything else you might need. Wolf would be screaming at me 24/7 if I had that much at my disposal and didn't go to help someone in my family. I can't keep you from that. We're going to Munich. You have some time to ready yourself. Go take care of that. When you're done, you can come back to Seattle at see me at my new home. Just don't bring any work with you."

She commented to Slob "We'll we look up to each other, except me... I turned out to be selfish. Kynos is not that bad. I mean - he does not seem to have a pulse and is 90% chrome, but he came to rescue me based on gratitude for warning him and perhaps saving his life. I mean, I am not sure if I would have done the same if our roles were reversed. "

Yael listened carefully to bnc and observed her body language, and then said "Aside for the fashion crimes you describe... Was it all in Austria? Why not check on her? I mean, you seem to be passionate about this story. Which means you still care about her... We are already going to Europe... I think it is not too far... " She paused and added "I'll come with you if you wish... Perhaps make you gorgeous again... You return with plenty of money and a head-turning body... "

At first, bnc neither resists nor embraces the hug, but after a second, bnc gives herself a push and firmly rests her head against Slob's big torso.
"I don't want an absolution. I was just answering your story. What I did, is done, and can't be undone. So it can't be absoluted either.
And it's not about wanting her to friggin' marry me, dumbhead... It's just that he stained the only working relationship I had."

She leans back again in an unsteady motion. Obviously, the two shots and the long dring show already effects. "I guess he's not as bad as Kynos ... but also not as good, I guess. Let's not talk about that foramen culi. Let's talk about beliefs.
"Who says it's your family that is your pack, Slobbertooth? Wolf is a totem. It chooses you, and you choose it. Shouldn't the same be true for your pack?"

She then turned to Anna.
"Did you not listen, girl? I can't just check on her after what I did. And it's fine. Krestov did her job better than she ever had. You've seen that now, after two years distance and a dose of Psyche, I can quite neutrally assess the situation without getting emotionally involved. It's neither self-pity nor sarkasm when I say, Kerstin is going to have a much better life without me. I owe her that I send her some proof of death or something, but that's all I can do about her. A simple spell won't change anything either."

Slob held back a laugh at bnc's Psyche remark. "Of course, nothing makes someone more rational and clearheaded in their decision-making than brain-drugs and alcohol. I've heard it's especially true when you're talking about why you were right to run away from home because of a boy. The obvious, rational choice is to tell your sister that you're dead, for her benefit.

"Choosing wolf is an interesting way to describe what happened. I was young, distraught, terrified, angry, and raging with more hormones. Wolf found me and told me things that I wanted to hear. That I could have vengeance, that he would make me stronger, that he could make me happy, and, when I moved in with my foster family, that he could help me protect them, too. I accepted him, and we've come to an understanding over the years. I think we've both mellowed out a little bit. I can say the same thing about Kazuya.

"You choose your 'pack', bnc, but some choices aren't so easily undone."

Yael shrugged "Well I did listen, I heard that you have a sister and that you love her very much. That leaving her behind was one of the most painful experiences of your life. A hole in your soul that even a troll would not fill. No offense to Special K... You are afraid of rejection, it is difficult, I get it."

To Slob she said "Amazing that you actually speak to wolf... My totem is kind of silent, I only feel her when defending my pack. Perhaps I can't hear her because I am so far away from my family."

Slob shrugged "We don't exactly have deep conversations. They're pretty short and they aren't that often. He's usually a bit demanding aand stubborn. One of us gets that from one of us."

Slob gave a small grin "He's the reason I have Zelda, though. Remember when I said knocked her unconscious and stole her from Triads? It was wolf who suggested that." Slob swung his head around, making sure no one was listening, and then spoke softly, "She was channeling mojo. I was just going to shoot her."

Going along with the strange claim Yael asked "Now... How did she do that? What kind of effect did it have?"

"Zelda wasn't channeling the magic on her own. Some triads were channeling it through her. They were turning her into a magic combat dog thing or something."

bnc rolls her eyes. "The typical response of someone who can't distinguish between various kinds of substances. Yes, Psyche does help you to focus better, think more rational and keep your concentration. That doesn't mean, it won't fall back to me after the effect wears off and I'm gonna hate me for what I just said. It just means, I realize it, can communicate it and can fool myself with the illusion of preparation, knowing that I might have to ask you not to let me alone today, as I unearthed some pretty deeprooted stuff that's gonna torment me badly soon."


"That's what I'm saying. You chose your pack, and you Ran with them. We did some big things. Things that matter personally to Gerhardt, but also things that matter to many, if not all people. We destroyed a bastante terribile Horror beacon. I don't know if you've got a clue what it is, but think of it as casting the One Ring into the chasms of Mount Doom.
Slob. You don't really believe that Wolf would appreciate your stepping down when there's still fight in you? Is Wolf the kind of totem that says, 'yay, sure, earn some nice creds, then buy a nice house and let the damn planet go to hell? Let a young drug-addict and a barbie doll who loves blood mage dicks fight for mankind alone'?
I know I'm being unfair. But I also am right. We are now wealthy and powerful enough to pick our battles. Do something that's right instead being shoved around by this Johnson or that. We can find others. Buy your parents a house, please. But don't forget who your pack is and what packs are good for."

Yael rolled her eyes and said "So you suggest faking your own death to make it easier on Kerstin and then a moment later you suggest that Slob would keep his adoptive parents in the gutter... To go and fight the 'good fight'? Just to avoid saying goodbyes?

I am sorry to be the buzzkill but we did not save the world. We played a small role in an epic power struggle between two of the most powerful organizations in existence. A bloody struggle with countless victims, including a great dragon by the way... My dad could go on and on about how he felt that Dunkelzahn could change many things for the better. No other president had this effect on him, ever. Nevermind that... the point is.

We did not 'win' and this is not 'over'... The only victory for street rats is to get out of the streets. Me going to university, despite circumstances... Learning to properly read, extending my vocabulary and overcoming the circumstances to get the education I dreamed about. That was a victory, and Slob quitting to save his family is a similar victory in my book. So is you and your Kerstin having a proper talk rather than ending up as the victims of your life circumstances."


So is bnc getting into a romantic relationship... though why go there. I have such a terrible taste in people! I would have fallen for Zola if he was not such a monster.

With wry sarcasm "So in your clearly rational and neither emotionally nor chemically impacted brain, the most reasonable answers you have come up with are to A. Fake your own death so that your sister will stop missing you and B. The most reasonable way for me to protect you is to encourage and join you on more absurdly dangerous runs. You know, rather than you going to say hello to your sister and closing down your little "kill and steal from blood mages" business.

"It will be more absurdly dangerous runs because that's what Schmitt hires people for. It will be working for Schmitt again because you like working for him and because you like him. You can lie to yourself about trying to save the world all you want, I don't give a damn. But don't spout drek to me about being able to choose ez pz jobs from here on out, cause there ain't no damn thing as a milk run."

"Ugh, shut the fuck up. First, I didn't say he should let them in the gutter, but 'Buy our parents a house, but don't forget who your pack is'. Rescure parents, then rescure others.

And I know that the fight isn't over. That's exactly what I'm saying. What a pathetic pseudo Wolf follower runs from an unfinished fight? If chicken out is what makes you happy, go fuck yourself and buy yourself some drinks in Malibu because you're afraid the streets might swallow you before the couple of years have passed before you grow old and fade away into meaninglessness."

She stands, downing most of her drink in a single long gulp.

"And I never said I would pick the milk runs. I said, I would pick the runs that matter. Out there are things that matter more than whether or not you dip your hairy ork balls in sun cream or whether or not some bitch with bad taste learns to - quote - properly read in her mid-twenties. And a bunch of freakishly mighty mages trying to summon demons from even beyond the astral planes to run amok in what is left of this chinky world is one of those. Yeah, I like Gerhardt, but there's a reason I like him. Unlike Barbie doll, I don't just go for the meanest prick. Schmidt has character, principles and, despite his age, is more of a fighter than you sorry lot put together."

bnc downs the rest of the drink and turns to go.

Slob could still be drawn in by petty insults, and was doing his best to hold back, "Schmitt doesn't hire people to save the world bnc. He hired us, risked the entire team, so that he could get a data stick and get his old job back. Unless besides thinking he's super iketeru, you also think he has the ability to see the future, you know he was just as clueless about that Horror thing bring in the vault. You won't be going to 'fight the good fight'. You'll be going to get more rich, and you should already have all the money you need.

"And I don't know where you think you're going. You don't get to 'chicken out' and just leave this conversation. You don't have a ride, and you can't just hang around outside. This is Redmond, in case you forgot."

Amused Yael gulped another drink... "She is just upset that you are leaving Slob. This run has shaken her to the core, and she grew to depend on you in the course of your common adventures. I'd say she is quite fond of you, but cannot admit it. It would take time to digest the loss and adjust. I'll keep an eye over her if she let me."

"I never said that my next Run will necessarily be Gerhardt's. I said, I'm not going to work for this or that man's personal wealth or power. Also, I believe he's already got back what he wants and surely he, too, will run out of nuyen. This was quite an expensive heist, all included."


"I ... I need to go to the restroom.", bnc answers with a certain pressed difficulty. Without waiting for a response, she snatches the silver patch from the table, turns and rushes to the restroom in a hurry. Nothing in her body language indicates that she indeed needs a toilet. It's got more the air of someone running from something than towards anything. To what Anna said, she doesn't respond directly, but shoots her a short glance that could mean anything and shows a swirl of emotions that's entirely indistinguishable.

"She's probably just going to use Psyche and come back out to be a preachy bitch again. You want to go in there or should I?"

"I know it's the girls bathroom, but I know Redmond, and folks don't really care around here. Well if some humanis shits are hanging about they might care, but I'm used to them."

Yael replied "Just let her be... Win the battle but lose the war. You will not be there to catch her every time she self destruct. She needs to find her inner strength rather than trust you to catch her."

Sounds like you volunteered yourself Is what Slob wanted to say, but he took a breath and thought better of it. That or the fake nutmeg was mellowing him out for once.

"Fine."

He checked him commlink's clock, waiting for Kazuya to arrive.

"Waiting for someone? " She asked, and continued with the drink. The establishment was near empty of customers but some workers began to arrive to prepare the alcohol.

bnc locks herself into the restroom cabin. She doesn't return for a while.

Kazuya took his time to appear, but eventually did.
With the tiniest hint of worry on his face, he stepped towards the team's table gave the others a nodded greeting and looked expectantly at Slobbertooth: "So that's your team then? You want to introduce us?"

"Well you took your sweet time. Hope you didn't run into too much trouble during your leisurely drive in." Slob said shuffled around the others to greet Kazuya with a hug. "Relax, they're all friendlier than me, and friendlier than most of the folks you'll see around here. "Hell, I'm probably the only one packing."(Japanese)

"Everyone this is Kazuya. Our likeness should tell you how we know each other." Slob emphasized their 'similarity' by putting and arm around Kazuya and leaning bringing their heads closer togehter.

Slob sighed and turned back to Kazuya, "It's probably better you don't know too much. If you've seen the news, you'll know where we were. I'll give you the full details when I come back."(Japanese) Slob introduced the team, gesturing to each with an open hand. "The big handsome one is Krestov. The pretty one is Yael, don't let her near your pockets. bnc is in the bathroom. Short skinny hacker bitch. You'd love her." Slob moved Kazuya back towards the door. "There's one other person I'd like you to meet. She's going to be very annoyed your made her wait in the car this long."

Slob made sure his pistol was loaded with gen and then led Kazuya back outside to the team vehicle, and opened the door to reveal a very large, and somewhat annoyed Tibetan Mastiff who quickly shuffled to the bumper's edge to greet Slob. "Heel girl." Standing in the back of the van she easily came up to above Kazuya's shoulders. "This is Zelda. We rescued her a while back. She's big, but she's sweet and loyal. Can you look after her for a few months. "I can't take her with me. It won't be dangerous to have her, but I don't know how she'd handle the suborbital and she isn't exactly inconspicuous. Sorry to drop it on you like this."(Japanese)

He waited for Kazuya and Zelda to say hello to each other, with a small smile on his face.

"We're going to need more than a cleaner. Eight Hundred Thousand."(Japanese)

Kazuya nodded as everyone was introduced and outright bowed his head for Anna.
When he met Zelda, his eyes lit up. "What a magnificent beast. I'll take good care of her." (Japanese)

The sum only made Kazuya raise an eyebrow: "I'll see to it. There are a few investments to make that will ensure that the money lasts."

"Yeah, that amount alone won't last forever. We'll probably need to keep working, but we won't have to do this drek anymore. We might have to buy khaki pants or something otherwise terrible."

"How's are family. Mom, dad?" with a pause, "Hiroko?"

Kazuya shrugged: "Getting old, missing you. Hiroko... she went back to school. Smartest thing she could do."

Tell that to Anna. Slob looked down with hands on his hips. "They aren't going to recognize me."

"I leave in a few hours, and it will be hard to contact me for the next couple of months. Come in and get a quick drink with the team before we go. You might as well meet them, so you know them if they pay a visit in the future.

"Social visit, I've told them to not bring business by."

Yael waved her hand, a bit drunk and over-enthusiastic... It was her 4th-5th... something drink. Including some that were a bit too much for mere humans though she digested them bravely "Hey!... Nice to meet you Kazuya"

bnc returns from the restroom shortly after Kazuya and Slob return to the table. A short glimpse at her pupils tell that she had applied the patch. So does the calm air of her movements when she returns. She seemed to be more relaxed, but also less lively. A reddened nose, eyes and skin around tell that she's been crying. Her walk is slightly unsteady, though this might simply come from being drunk already, hardly half an hour after you entered the bar.

She doesn't walk straight over to the group. Instead she stops at the bar and stands besides a young man. For a split-second she catches his gaze, and if he meets it, she turns to the barman. "Sex", she says to him, but again looks the young man in the eyes, "on the Beach. With a straw. Ah, and without the fruit garnish, just the real thing."
She pauses for a second, then fully turn her attention to the young man. "You have a cig or something?"

Kazuya gave Slobber an imperceptible nod: "I'll take good care of your girl. And when you return, I'm sure mom and dad will be happy to get to know you again."
Slobber's friend and contact recognized the greeting from Anna with a stiff little bow: "Pleased to meet you too." He turned slightly as bnc made her entry.

The young man she had spoken to looked up from his beer and gave her quick look up and down before replying: "Sorry Honey, but I don't go in for prostitutes. Especially not for the coked out, underage ones. Also, your pimp kind of scares me." With a quick glance in Krestov's direction the young man got up and left his half drunken beer behind. The barkeeper used that moment to plopp a tall glass with with a straw and some orange-grey kind of sludge on the bar that smelled faintly of artificial peach and organges.
With a sleazy grin on an entirely too sleazy face and body he said: "Drink's on the house if you don't mind coming into the back room."

"Which one of you is the 'good' one?" she asked grinning widely. Her expression flattened as bnc returned to the room, but sat on the bar, "That girl is the definition of a buzzkill", she thought. She felt bad, it felt like a replay of the story from before... that one had a troll in a shining armor busting heads... Krestov did not look like the ultra-violent type but... "Perhaps bringing them here was a bad idea... I open up to people too quickly, the university changed me. They are not harmless SINNers, but a pack of explosives." she thought as her skin crawled.

bnc takes the half-empty glass of beer and pours it over the leaving dude's back of the head. "If you look for a whore, ask Barbie doll over there, you retarded jerk."

For an instant it looks like the man wants to back hand bnc. With visible effort he rains in his emotions and just shakes his wet mop of hair: "You need help, girl." With a flick of his wrist he produces an ARO in the form of a calling card for Drug Users Anonymous, before turning around to go.
The barkeeper is less than thrilled with the spill but for now contents himself with a dirty look at bnc.

Slob saw Anna was already three sheets to the wind, and that Krestov wasn't going to over to protect bnc from herself. How did I end up as the chaperone. "Anna, that's your last drink. Can't have you falling unconcious before we take our trip. They won't let us drag you aboard. I'll go get bnc."

Slob shuffled out of his chair once again and moved between bnc and the soaked customer before she got a broken jaw. "C'mon, take a seat next to Barbie doll before you start a fight Krestov has to finish."

Yael snorted "Lightweight! You call me Anna but I am the drunk one. I had two glasses of your Trog booze... Whats your excuse...?" She stood up and said Now if only that bitch would stop calling me a whore in public... Perhaps I will not hit her myself." She walked up toward bnc and the man and said a bit too grinning and a bit too loudly, finding it difficult to hide that she inappropriately finds the situation amusing. "I thank you for your restraint, she is something special." Toward bnc she said assertively "it is time for us to go Skinny... I'll think of a special punishment for calling me a whore." She was relieved that the situation did not yet escalate to violence. Capitalizing on their luck she grabbed bnc's hand and walked out of the distillery without even waiting for the girl's consent.

Being a bit of a con artist (in her own eyes) and a thief Yael wondered.. "Perhaps this mess means that we walk out without paying for the drinks. Horny employees are kind of stupid, and it was a good distraction by bnc... Though, I think that Krestov will pay even if they forget all about it. He seems the type."

bnc was just about to hack and rampage the fellow's 'link when more or less the whole group assembled around her.
She sighs ostentatively. "Was I being too subtile when I didn't return to your place? You really are insufferable...
Anyway, thanks for coming, I guess, before you just go off and don't care anymore -" She shoots a glance in Slobbertooth's direction.
"I won't change location just when we arrived. But I would comply to sit down and behave if you insist in meddling in my affairs. Guess I owe you this eve before we split. Me, I's gonna behave, promise."

Yael replied "Meddle in your own affairs bitch... You are too embarrassing to be around."