The story so far:

The team has been hired again by a former Johnson, Dr. Schmidt to help him rob the vault of a bank. The bank is located on Council Island in Seattle and contains stolen research data. The director of this bank, Dr. Zola, is a former Aztlan Colonel and has gotten this employment as a reward for his long service for Aztec/Aztlan. The bank is well secured but contains one serious flaw: Dr. Zola's tendency for micro management and lust for beautiful women.

So far they managed to secure a boat house on Council Island so they can freely smuggle gear to and loot from the island. They have identified and located the people responsible for matrix, astral and mundane security. Also they managed to replace an escort girl with one of their own and copied Zola's Security Override Key (SOK).
Their job is made more difficult by Zola's personal bodyguards: The former Jaguar Warrior Ramirez and the Mercenary Kynos.

Just now they have infiltrated the hotel that the bank uses to house the security people on the Island.

Continuing the conversation from prior thread.

"It's less what I do now, and more what I did that taught me that."


"Johnathan can tell you more about what we do"

Shanita cocked her head to the side:
"So, what did you do?

By the way, feel free to do some shooting yourself - we have at least a generous allotment for training."

She expertly unloaded her weapon, showing the empty chamber, before handing the gun to Slobbertooth and stepping back - the fresh magazine lying in front of him.

"I interned as an assistant assistant compliance officer at a bank. I overheard enough conversations between legal, HR, and compliance to know where we stood in case of a break in."

Slobbertooth looked at the gun, considering her offer to fire the gun for a moment before taking her up on it.

"Johnathan, never say I don't make you laugh."

Slob pretended to explore the pistol and imitated someone who was new to the firearm. He is able to get the weapon loaded without trouble, but it's clear he hasn't used one before. He even sent to far as to pull the trigger once, make a face of embarrassment, and then deactivate the safety. He tries to take the stance of someone who has seen other people shoot, but doesn't have much experience himself. The first 5 rounds spray around the target, but by the final few he has managed to get them into something resembling a grouping.

"Well. It's an improvement over last time."

Shanita smirked: "Don't worry, I've seen worse from professionals. At least you didn't turn around holding the weapon in my direction.
So you do compliance - making sure regulations are kept and so. Any particular reason you are scouting for mercenaries and security staff?"

"Well really, it's Johnathan doing the scouting.

"I'm just here to make sure that he doesn't breech contract." Slobber said with a wry grin.

"Butt seeing as he's content just spectating for now, why don't you give him your contact info, and he'll give you his, and we can stop interrupting your morning routine.

"He can schedule a lunch if anyone is interested, later."

"Great, thanks. I'll be sure to pass it on to my colleagues."

Meanwhile Anna made an interesting discovery: A haggard looking man with some kind of martial arts gi had entered the gym. Around his head a headband sat with dozens of crystals woven into it. On his gi the same crystals are gleaming. If she had to guess, she'd say that this looked like some kind of shaman tuxedo - just not for a shaman tradition.

The man went for a rack in the back and pulled out one of the yoga mats. His face showed annoyance, as if this was just another unnecessary chore in a long list of them.
Already he turned to go again.

"Can you investigate that guy, Anna?"

<@Schmidt@Team>>Hey Boss, think you could set up a meeting with an employer for the guards who just gave up their contact information. A job they would be hired for, but an opportunity that would be so good they would accept abruptly leaving during the middle of their shift, unannounced, to take the interview as a team? They've got experience dealing with a spirit, so that could be part of the pitch.

Krestov, maybe you could set up some time to butter them up so more<<>

>>Alraedy on it! she texted back and thought "Somebody screams mage... " she thought. She quickly assensed the man to satisfy her curiosity using the smoothie to mask the fact that she was distracted. Day dreaming was accepted during vacations... or she hoped.

The aura was bright and Anna felt her suspicion proved correct: The man was magical active and she even thought she could see faint lines emanating from him, likely the control connections to his watchers.
He didn't look overly powerful himself, but he carried the aura of a focus that shined with a high potential.

Anna felt the adrenaline rushing, she wanted to take it slow and plan - but if he was there he was not in the room and the excitement of B&E seemed rushing.
>> that is our guy, perhaps it is time for some B and E? She texted.

She texted Flatline to ask that the room will be cleaned and quickly headed to the room. Having the cleaning lady at her room would allow Anna to gain access to a master key. Or so she hoped.

Anna rushed upstairs to find indeed a cleaning lady - so to speak:
Actually a robotic maid made her way systematically through the rooms, followed closely by a large janitorial drone that received the waste and dispensed the necessary towels and toiletries.
It would not be easy to sneak past the robotic maid - but far from impossible. Currently the bot was working on the room next to their mark.
Their rigger was able to confirm the drones' location on the grid and transmitted their codes to the team:
<<Standard cleaning detail - protected by the hotel host.
bnc, do you feel up for some light hacking?
Anna, do you have a way to distract the drones? Mere invisibility won't be enough. Those things have ultrasound sensors. According to their routine, the maid needs about 1 minute per room while the janitor drone blocks the exit. If there is a mess to be cleaned up, she'll take longer.>>

>> Anna texted I am on it! Will improvise something.

If Anna had the time she grabbed her raising huntress dress and slipped into it to be more stealthy - but if not she made as much mess in her room as possible which would give her enough time to mentally prepare to sneak in past the drones into the mage's room.

She looked at Flatline grabbed his hand and instructed him "Go to the Janitorial drone, take his trash and throw it around the place. Say you look for your watch... then apologize when it is not found." She quietly said. When it was time, she almost pushed the man on the Janitorial drone to imply how important precise time was.

Anna would use the distraction to sneak past the janitor drone. Hopefully, if she timed right she would not have to be with the maid in the same room for long.

Flatline did as he was told and provided a distraction on the hotel corridor that occupied both the janitor drone and the maid drone long enough for Anna to slip into the hotel room.

In the middle of the room a carefully arranged geometric pattern of crystals had been created and in it's middle was a yoga mat which currently sported a rather significant damp spot that smelled of soy ramen noodles.

Anna didn't have much time to look around, because the janitor drone moved in front of the door, blocking the egress.
Any second the maid drone would come in and find Anna - unless she could find a hiding place for long enough to allow bnc to create an exit for her

Anna used the commotion and quietly hid in the closet, as cliche as that hiding place was she did not see a reason why the maid would open the closet. It was only in the closet that she understood how she allowed the adrenaline to take control and forgo planning... "But how am I going to get out of the room?" she wondered as her body surged with endorphins.

<@team <i assume the question is rhetorical.
what exactly do u need? will it do if it doesnt react to barbie doll?>>

She dropped the surveillance for a minute and moved to the host. After producing a well-forged passcode, bnc enters the host and searches for the drone. When she's found it, she quickly inspects it before launching her attack.

The inside of the hotel host looked remarkably similar to the real hotel - except that a very nosy concierge was moving through the halls, examining personas and their actions.
Thankfully there are a great many icons moving about and the concierge is pretty busy.

She texts bnc, cc the rest >>Inside, undetected but I need some quiet time to finish.
(I assumed she was undetected so far)

bnc quickly adapts to the new environment and loads the skin of a pretty red-haired waitress who is just cleaning some tables. When the concierge looks another way, she quickly pulls out a double stamp showing the masks of tragedy and comedy and marks the drone with it. Sub-visibly, an authentification routine was forged to fake high-level authorization. She quickly passes a note - a command - to the drone, then returns her attention to the table she's wiping.
On the note it reads: "If and as long as you detect a foreign person, clean the windows. You may whistle your favourite song if you like."

Despite lying in a recovery bed, bnc had no trouble reconfiguring the drone - and not a second to soon: The drone was just carrying freshly washed laundry into the closet when the hack took hold. Upon seeing the hiding Anna, the drone droped it's laundry and began to clean the windows.

Anna saw that she had free reign to hide her spying toys - but not for long: Kite warned her that the mage had entered the elevator and was about to reach the top floor again.

Meanwhile,
Slobber had just finished listening to Shania when she tilted her head curiously and said:
"Sorry, just got a message. It seems like you could ask Mr. Garcia yourself. He just arrived at the hotel bar to fetch the boss' lunch"

Anna quickly placed the gas grenade into the ventilation system's shaft and attempted to disguise it as much as she could, then she quickly exited the room.

<@Anna <Do u need more time?>>

With a thought she texted back, not letting it distract her from what she is doing. >> No idea sweet lips... Busy planting the thing... Kite, how much do I actually have? do I need more time? . Anna felt incredibly sexy being in a place where she shouldn't be and so close to getting caught. "I am was so going to party if I am not caught!" she thought.

"Hurry. The elevator is just about to reach your level. From their he has about 5 seconds until his room comes into view. You should be on the corridor before that."
Kite replied.

Anna kept her cool and hid the grenade in the ventilation shaft. Then she exited to the corridor and warmly hugged Flatline. "You are the number one boss!" she said softly as she made sure that their mark does not get a second look at their faces. Then she said "Lets go sightseeing..." and grabbed his hand, not taking no for an answer.

For once everything works out without a hitch - even though it is close. Just as Anna is sticking her head together with Flatline, the wage mage turns around the corner, still dragging his fresh yoga mat with him, looking very grumpy. The large Janitor Drone had moved aside in time for the wage mage to enter his room again. Through the half closed door the two runners can hear him ordering the drone out: "Damn it, I said clean the Soylent from the floor, not clean the windows. Get out and don't come back before 19.00 o'clock - and while you are at it, reserve a place down in the restaurant for 18.45."
The door closed, but only for a minute, until the Maid drone left again, resuming its duty in the next room.

Only now did Anna have time to recall all the details of the mage's hotel room:

All furniture had been moved to the sides - including the small single bed - to make room for a large circle, delineated by various kinds of crystals on the ground. The carpet had had a large, fresh stain, implying that the mage had soiled it with his liquid lunch. Otherwise the room had been bare of any luxuries and the closet had contained only more gis and two business suits. Anna guessed that the asceticism and therefore hunger was the main reason the man looked so grumpy.

"Perhaps he is undergoing some initiate ordeal?" thinks Anna when she notices the minimality of the room as the bad attitude of the wagemage.

Whew, girl, that was close!

bnc reboots her deck, thus leaves the host and removes the drone's malconfiguration.

<@all <well done barbie. next step are the spiders nestcepas>>

"So again, we pulled it off and sneaking came in useful perhaps more useful than actual magic. Which is great as my mojo is not yet fully developed." Hugging the other mage, got her to think how limited he was in comparison with physical tasks. The man was a slob, while Anna felt that her own body was a temple, a piece of art to constantly improve. Yet, she could not do that without his distraction and was happy to help. All in all, she liked breaking and entering A LOT and it was the kind of things she barely did anymore, in the university. It was mainly booked and competing with more academically disciplined or plain smarter mages at the university. If there was money at the end of this gig - then perhaps this 'occupation' was the one for her. It felt better than being a fake person, being called Anna instead of Yael to match the fake SIN. She felt happy and alive and she wanted to celebrate.
>> @bnc That was some Wiz work yourself!

In her good mood, she ordered flowers to be delivered to bnc's hospital bed along with the note:

"Dearest Sprinklers,

Get well, sweetie!
Your cleaning skills are indeed legendary.
I am impressed and cannot wait to clean *your* windows.

Barbie"

Anna had no idea how bnc would react to such a gesture. Yet, she felt a bit off by not visiting her. Knowing the decker for such a brief time she felt that bnc would rather be alone and not expose weakness. Perhaps she'd like special K there. Clearly not herself but she wanted to be nice and still wish her well. Besides, Anna felt that it was fun to get flowers even if they were from a fake lover. So she hoped that the flowers would be accepted with a smile.

She texted the team.

>> Anybody feels like visiting the spaa? I mean, why not use the facilities...

bnc replied rather dryly to the text message.
<@Anna <ts it was like beating up a kid. only less fun.>>

Since there was not much else bnc could do, she quickly checked in on Vandemark, then creates overlaying timetables to find a time in the future, where both Vandemark and Pierce are on shift, preferrably in the night.