Snow smiles at Lil' Homie and tries to stay out of the way as Con does his thing with the boy and the clerk at the counter. While waiting for the guy to come back with the beer, she spots a hoodie on a rack behind the counter. When the clerk returns, Snow asks him if the hoodie is for sale and the man shrugs and gives her a price. After a minute of back and forth, she hands over a sum and takes the hoodie. Snow gives Con a smile of thanks and takes one of the beers when he offers it, using the counter to pop the cap in a practiced move that leaves no doubt that she has done it before.

She sips at the warm beer as they climb the stairs back to their floor and again stands aside as Con talks to the man in the hallway.

Sammy also thanks O'Connor when he hands her back her pistol.
"We don't all have to carry AK's or something similar," she said, "for those in the know it would be fairly easy to spot that some of us have no skill whatsoever in handling those by the way we carry them. And not everybody I've seen here today was even armed."

She looked around in the room.
"I'll set a ward here tomorrow," she said, "it would keep at least astral visitors out. And speaking of astral visitors. Jane, do you have any idea how Samriel's aura looks like? I might be able to send a number of watchers around to search. They can't go everywhere, but they're easy to summon."

Sam also didn't feel the need for heavier firepower. After Con left, he turned to Sammy and Clementine. "Ok, a human male accompanied by two attractive orc women will tend to draw attention no matter how we play this out. I'm thinking researchers from one of the corps, looking for special artifacts, perhaps very similar to the one "Mr. Lockwood" has disappeared with. Of course, we'd need a few more details on that--" he paused, letting Jane know where he expected the details to come from, then continued, "--but if we let it be known that we have money and/or power that we're willing to share with whoever leads us where we want to go, things should work pretty smoothly. Thoughts?"

"I would be careful with the money thing," Sammy said, "from what I've seen here they might just decide to rob us instead of help us. I'm also not very comfortable with splitting up, but I guess if we want to cover ground we have to."

Sam chuckled. "We don't need to actually have cash on hand. A corp shill would have some money to grease wheels, but any real payout would be on delivery. And besides--when have either of us let not having something be an obstacle? Reality's all about perception, right?"

"True," Sammy said, "well, in any case, that's for tomorrow. For now I'm going to try and send a couple of messages and then get some sleep."
She sent a message to James Dermot, her talismonger, asking if he had a formula for a spell to clean water. Even with the water purification tablets, she thought she could use it but she wasn't going to trust local sources.
Another message went out to her brother, reasuring him she was fine and asking about how he was doing, including school.

As the group split up, Sam decided to head to bed; he wasn't sure how many personalities he'd have to create the next day, and wanted to be well-rested for it.

Once done with his conversation with Peaceful, O'Connor handed another beer to Lil' Homie out of the open pack, "Only one more. We need you sharp for tomorrow." He also handed one of the unopened six packs to the kid, "Hand those out to the others, I'll be in in a bit." He handed Snow another beer and took the last one out of the pack for himself. He held up the last six pack and motioned towards the stairwell that led up to the roof, wordlessly inviting Snow to join him.

Snow takes the offered beer and follows Con to the roof, waiting silently to see what the man has to say.

O'Connor looked up at the sky and sighed as he sipped his beer. He was silent for several moments. He finally turned and looked at Snow, "Why that play? We didn't need those pirates respect or approval. Killing their raiding team and capturing those kids showed well enough we weren't to be fragged with."

Snow nods, trying to put her thoughts into words. "You are correct in saying it proved we were not to be fragged with, but in my opinion, it did not give them any reason to help us and I felt that we did need their respect and approval. Sure, we maybe could have bribed them and they might have helped us, but the cost would have been greater and they might not have been as willing or as helpful. You earned the respect of the man through your actions, putting you on near equal terms with him. What you did directly led to him lowering his price and not troubling the rest of us during the journey, not to mention getting us here in the first place. You could have even worked a better deal for yourself and the others by giving me to them for the voyage. That you did not shows a depth of character, though, and I appreciate that, even though I would have gone willingly to them had you desired me to."

"I am sorry that I did not discuss this with you before doing it, but there was little or no time to do so. I will try to not blindside you with something like that again, although I will tell you up front now that I would be a willing participant if you feel the need to repeat the episode. I have been trained to be that sort of woman, Con, and would put myself on the line like that as often as needed to help the team to accomplish our mission. Consider me an asset, one possibly as potent as your gun at times. Use me if you need to."

It took a moment for O'Connor to articulate his response,
"It's Jane's money we're spending. Even if it wasn't, the trade isn't equal. You keep saying to think of you as an asset. I can't do that. It's not who I am, or at least, it's not who I want to be. You're not just a bargaining chip that I'll use casually. You're my teammate. Hell you're the only one on the team that I actually like."

He chugged the rest of his beer in a few gulps. Heavy conversations like this were something he avoided, but felt compelled to explain himself to Snow, "Don't make that play again, I can't keep being Captain Slappy. I'm a piece of drek and I've earned my place in Hell. Even so, I have a code. I hurt people for three main reasons; for revenge, in self-defense, or its the job. I'm a creature of violence and rage. It'd be all to easy for me to not just kill my enemies, but make them suffer and beg to die. What I did to Bacchus in LA brushed right up against the line. If he had meat legs instead of chrome, I wouldn't have done it. It still shows how close I always am to falling into sadism. I may be monstrous, but I don't want to be completely soulless, not like that pirate scumbag Thabo or that sadistic fragger Vadik."

O'Connor had put alot of venom into his voice at the mention of Vadik. His eyes went wide when he realized that he'd let that name slip. He turned away from Snow and busied himself by opening another beer. His body language showed he was retreating within himself, and fast.

Snow takes a chance and puts a hand on Con's shoulder. "OK, I won't make that move again without talking to you about it first." After a pause, she adds, "You seem troubled. I am a very good listener if you want to say anything. I can also keep a confidence."

O'Connor gave a heavy sigh and downed half his beer before answering, "I didn't like hitting you, but I was able to without hesitation. It makes me wonder if my code is just bulldrek. I came up with it to keep myself from becoming like Vadik, my mom's pimp. Guy's a real piece of work. He beats his girls and their kids all the time just to make them beg for mercy. I kill for vengence and profit, but I don't draw it out. Quick and clean. Vadik hurts people for fun. I can do it without hesitation, how long until I do it because I like it too?"

Con has not removed her hand from his shoulder so Snow lets it linger there. "Some men are born sadistic and cruel and like it. That you do not, means a lot, Con. You can control it, if you want to. It sounds to me that you and this Vadik are not anything alike. You hit me because you had to but you did not enjoy it. I took it because I had to but I did not enjoy it. We both did the right thing for the right reasons. I think that because you have a conscience, you will not fall become what Vadik is. Believe me, I have seen lots of Vadiks in my tine as a joygirl and you are not one. You are a violent man when you need to be, and can be somewhat rude to others, even your own teammates, but I wonder how much of that is a defense mechanism. I am not a shrink, but I have a ton of experience in reading people to determine what they like in bed and I think that you use your words to try to keep people at bay.....to not allow yourself to get close to anyone. You are perhaps afraid of two things, hurting someone you care about and getting so close that your judgement may be clouded. I could be wrong, of course, but I think that you are mistaken about me and the others. You can let yourself get close and still be you."

O'Connor looked up into the sky contemplatively, "Maybe." He moved to sit on the edge of the roof. He finished off his current beer and cracked another one, "Help me finish these off."

Snow smiles as she accepts the offered beer. "Thanks. I prefer a good vodka, but this will do in a pinch." She walks up to sit on the ledge next to Con, shoulders almost touching. She maintains a comfortable silence for a bit, waiting to see if he would say anything else.

O'Connor gave a soft chuckle, "A Russian that prefers vodka, such an originalist." Other than the friendly jest, O'Connor drank in silence.

Snow chuckles. "I was trained to be an originalist in my sexual techniques so as to find out what pleases the clients, my drinking habits are all my own."

When the lot of you decide it is a good time to brave the heat and crowds of Lagos it ends up being a 10am local. The humidity is thick enough to chew, even in the courtyard of the hotel.

Lil Homie, after asking some rather bright questions to O’Conner, has decided that he needs to take him to the Dúdú Dúdú Ôjà in Agege, instead of the local market, for the modifications the runner is looking to do, saying the local markets will not have armorers on hand.

Jane is expecting the other group to start hitting places with more foreigners and try to get a lead on Samriel. Transportation in Lagos is available by okada (a narrow, modified motorcycle taxi), by cab, or by danfo (a privately operated bus that transports workers for a few naira each). There are more street kids outside the hotel ready to serve as guides .

The drinking party on the roof had broken shortly after the third beer and Snow had accompanied Con back to the room, where she undressed for bed, stripping down to only her panties before slipping a too-large t-shirt over her torso, apparently unconcerned if any of her teammates were looking at her. In the morning, she got up and used the toilet down the corridor before returning to the room to get dressed. The tee was already fairly soaked by the time she took it off and rummaged through her bag for something to wear. Kneeling on the floor, she selected something light, knowing that it would be sticking to her almost as soon as she put it on. She chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds then decides to go for comfort and striped out of her panties, before slipping her trousers on.

Standing, she slips her shoulder rig on and checks her pistol before putting it in the holster. Looking at Jane and Con, she signals that she is ready when they are. "We eating on the go or here before we leave?"

Once returning to the room, O'Connor stripped naked and hung his clothes up on one of the privacy partitions before going to bed. With the unsanitary conditions of the city, plus the humidity, he was regretting not bringing a change of clothes. Jane had said one duffle bag, and his had been nearly ripping at the seams with all his weapons and ammo. Nothing to be done about it now. He made a mental note to have Lil' Homie take him to a market once he had a bit of free time.

In the morning, once the humidity was in full force, O'Connor was glad he'd switched out from an armored leather jacket to an armored vest/form fitting half bodysuit combo. He'd be passing out from heat stroke with the jacket in no time.

With room security assured after "tipping" Peaceful, O'Connor left Mira and Unrelenting Torrent behind. He held one of the AKs, ready to use, and held out the other between Jane, Snow and Lil' Homie to carry, not certain who would be the most comfortable and/or effective with the weapon.

Sammy was sort of used to the heat, as LA could be quite hot at times as well. The humidity was something else though, but she was sure she would get used to it at one point.
After getting dressed she looked at the others.
"I don't think we can eat here, so we have to do it on the fly," she said, "I think it's best to be careful what you eat. So, who goes where? I wouldn't mind checking out Victoria Island."

Snow nods as she pulls her hair back into a ponytail and puts a hair-tie in place. "Frag, it is hot and sticky already. I think we are on the way to a marketplace first. Perhaps this guy is known in the area? If not we can branch out from there. You three can try to get to the Island, but all of my research says that could be tough unless you have an invite, but maybe Sam can fast-talk them into getting you one." Once ready, she picks up a strap sack she has put some medical supplies in and looks at Con and Jane. She shakes her head at Con's offer of the AK and holds out her hand for it. "I can use that, but not as well as my pistol, but I can carry it unless Jane wants it? You two ready to get going?"

"There has to be a way to get on that island," Sammy said, "I simply can't believe that in this city there are no ways to get there. But maybe we can better wait a couple of days and have a look around before we move there. I guess it's down to going to certain hotspots and use the picture and some bribes to get people to talk. Maybe the place where all those hackers go... Festac wasn't it, can yield useful info."

O'Connor gave the rifle to Snow and nodded, "Ready to go." He turned to Lil' Homie, "Lead the way."

By the time Snow exits the building with Con, Jane, and Lil' Homie, she is already dripping sweat. The bandanna she has around her head keeps the dripping water from her eyes, but her thin shirt is soon plastered to her chest. The bag strapped around her shoulders hangs at her side and contains medical supplies, of which a large part is bottled water. Realizing that dehydration could be a real threat here, Snow is looking for any water vendors so that she can refill her bottles, adding water purifying tablets to each one. The newest gen tablets are pretty much tasteless, not like some of the earlier ones she has used in the past.

Looking around as they walk, Snow realizes that she is gathering some attention and mentions that to Con. "Not sure if these guys have seen many Elves around here. I hope that is not going to be a problem."

O'Connor replied sarcastically, "Two sexy foreign elves strolling through the slums, what could possibly happen?" He kept a wary eye out for any threats, the problem being differentiating between those just getting an eyeful and those planning something. He stepped closer to the two women, "You both should stay within eyesight and arm's length."

Perception (Visual): 7d6t5 3

Before she heads out with Con and Snow, Jane gives some final instructions to Starlet, "Feel free to hire the hacker, but don't get to keyed into the island. Samriel is not going to be anywhere his image can be recorded. Hit the bars and the other hotels near the waterfront, I don't expect you to run into him, but if he came in by water someone might remember him and give us a lead. Also, remember he is here to sell something, so that might be an line to look into."

She hires a couple of okada for her group and they are soon zooming through streets at breakneck speed for the arms market.

She also hired a guide for Torley's group and the boy is awaiting instructions.

Sammy looked at the little boy, a bit the same as the one following O'Connor around.
"We need to check some things on the docs," she said to him, guessing he knew at least some English, "bars, hotels, people who know who arrived there in the past weeks."

Then she looked at Sam.
"Anything else I forgot about," she asked him.

As they sped along to the gun market, O'Connor asked Jane, "Will our exit have the same cargo capacity restrictions? I might want to do some personal shopping at this market before we leave town."

Sam shrugged. "We came in by boat, but isn't it more likely our target flew in? We ought to check both, of course, but I don't think he had the same 'issues' we did. I'd say let's check around the airport first."

"Let's start with the water," Sammy said, "at least we've been there. Let's take the okada like the others did. It looks like the best way around here."
She looked at the boy Jean had hired to be their guide and gave him instructions to get some okada to bring them all to the waterfront. As soon as the bikes where there, she let Sam and the guide handle the negotiations, as she couldn't understand the language."

"We are leaving the way we were supposed to arrive, but remember, you have a job to do."

O'Connor literally had to bite his tongue to keep from giving a snarky reply. He'd implied that his personal shopping would be done during any downtime. Looked like Jane was going to be a grade-a slot over everything however. At least she finally allowed them to know the exit plan, if only vaguely. He didn't like how cagey she was being about it. Things felt off, O'Connor suspected a double cross was in the cards for them. Why else refuse to give hard details about the exit strategy? If they could double check her plan, it would show that she only had passage for herself, that's why.

O'Connor was of half a mind to blow Jane's brains out right then and there, but held off, for the time being anyway. He didn't have definitive proof that she planned to off them, and she may be necessary to getting their hands on the stolen goods. It must be worth a small fortune for all the trouble Jane was going through to get it back. It'd probably be enough to recoup the payday Jane wasn't going to give them and get them home.

O'Connor messaged Torley, <Finally got Jane to tell us a bit about the exit plan. Flying out, but no real details. There's something up about this. While we're split up, you should make seperate arrangements for us. Might also want to poke around the airport and figure out if the reason she's so mum about the whole thing is because she only bought one ticket, if you catch my meaning.>

The boy takes you back to the waterfront, and guides you to an area where the ratio of Caucasian to Ebony skin shifts dramatically. There is also an uptick in signs written in English, advertising rooms for rent or refreshment and recreation of various, usually unsavory, kinds, along with goods for sale.

when they arrived at the docks, or whatever passed for docks in this city, Sammy looked at Sam.
"There's no way we can search every place ourselved," she said, "I think it's best if we do a couple, ask around, pay a few naria for information, but letting it be known that there is more to be earned for a tip that leads us to this guy, alive of course. Since greed seems to be the driving factor here, that should give us a lot of people who are searching."

She thought about it.
"Maybe we can tell them that the guy is our friend and he wasn't there were we were supposed to meet and we're a bit worried about him. In this city that's quite believable, right?"

Spotting a fairly deserted alley, she steered that way.
"I first want to put a couple of safeguards in place and I don't want too much of an audience while doing so."

In the alley, she first cast her spell to make her faster and then called a spirit of water on standby in case it would be needed.

The Dúdú Dúdú Ôjà weapons market is an astonishing place. People are here literally selling tanks, and with a volume discount. There is a semi-truck full of weapon cases that has a seller demonstrating a rifle that O’Conner knows damn well is a prototype that is still in development with HG. There are mercenary teams shopping for Milspec drones and terrorists haggling over biowarfare agents. Snow even takes note of some high ranking members of the White Vory doing some shopping The only thing you don’t see is any of the little knots of locals that Lil Homie identifies as Area Boys when you passed them on the way here.

The armorer that you are introduced to takes the work, and after being talked out of mods you can’t afford, gives them to you for cost. He can’t ID your elf though, and neither can anyone else, though it takes you several hours and a lot of bribes to accomplish that.

O'Connor was definitely coming back here before the job was done. The kid in a candy store feeling wore off though as their search turned up no leads. He was really starting to despise the incessant bribery. He couldn't believe they had to grease palms to learn nothing. At least it was Jane's money going down the toliet and not his. He would've shot someone for the audacity of expecting to be paid to be of no help. He turned to the elves, "Where to next?"

The team on the docks doesn't fair much better, dropping some time in the most busy spots, spending about 100 naira in the process. They do end up on a wild goose chase when someone confuses Samriel for a wasted ex-combat biker that tore up the Die Nasty the night before last.

When you track down the flop where the guy is sleeping off his most recent bender, the only real similarities are the ears.

Sammy takes our her comm and luckily on the docks the reception is quite okay. Time to get an update from the other team.
>>Hey guys. We have no luck so far. You guys doing any better?<<

"Unless we get another message," she said to Sam, "let's go and have a look at the port masters office. They might know, at least as soon as their memory has been cured by infusion of money."

Snow shares Con's frustration at the situation. And it is not like she can use her body to get any answers here, either. The best part of the area is that the presence of all this high-tech weaponry, the vendors have made sure that the matrix is very available here and Sammy's message comes through very clear. >>Hey, no luck finding the guy here, either. No problems getting just about any weapon or armor we could ever want, if we had the money. Moving away from here now.<<

>>We're going to check with the harbour master<< Sammy wrote back. >>It's probably a dry hole anyway (and what a great thing something dry would be here), but you only know if you try it.<<

They went to what was euphemistically called the office of the harbour master and luckily there people spoke something other than the local dialects. With the picture and some money they tried to get information.

Sam doubted that they were going to be able to find anything at the waterfront, but still wanted to do his best. As their guide led them towards the harbormaster's office, he shifted his posture slightly and adopted the air of someone with natural authority--someone who was obeyed simply because of who they were. Stopping just inside the building, he slowly scanned the room, clearly displeased with what he saw. Turning to their guide, he sniffed and loudly declared, "Why are you wasting my time? I told you I needed someone who could actually help me find him, not...whatever you call this place." He used English, expecting those in the office to understand at least some of what he said--or at least the tone with which he said it.

Sammy wasn't sure what Sam was doing, but she was quite sure he had some sort of plan, so she kept silent for now, looking at the guys in the 'office' and their reaction to the little theatre.

"I call it The Office of the Harbormaster, if you are looking for someone or something that came through here, I might be able to help you." says that fattest man you have seen on the continent. That is really not a high bar to achieve with the malnourishment so common here, but this guy is morbidly obese by Western standards. "Lester Finnegan, what can I do for you?"

The man clearly sees money walking in his door and is looking to get paid, Torley notes.

"Ikeja, the district around the airport is the next largest cluster of foreign business." Jane doesn't look particularly pleased that they haven't gotten a single lead yet, but there is an additional agitation you wouldn't expect from such a professional operator. She seems to be genuinely concerned about the conditions that some of the locals exist in. The gap between the haves and have-nots is particularly striking here, where the people doing business are sunburned foreigners and the locals are all in subservient roles, if they are lucky.

While Lagos was a more extreme example, the plight of the locals was also the lot of the denizens of Redmond. O'Connor was unmoved by the crushing poverty and nigtmarish conditions of this city. For him, this was normal everyday life. He found Jane's concern odd though. He couldn't fathom anyone in their line of work being a najve bleeding heart type. He figured she had to be playing them or at least messing with them. He decided to play along, "Should probably take that heart off your sleeve and hide it away. In a place like this, compassion is a weakness that marks you as easy prey."

Jane look at the banger and gave him a nod as she put a little more steel in countenance. But she also replied "I know you grew up hard in the Barrens, omae, but I would bet Lil Homie would sell you his sister to have your life. It's just a whole 'nother level here."

O'Connor shrugged, half conceding the point, "I suppose you're right. Though I've yet to see true next level depravity and horror. So far its been the same old same old, just constantly at full tilt." He mused on Jane's seeming soft side, "Drek, maybe we should've paired Jane up with Torley. I'm no good at sussing out people's intentions. The people I know are super upfront with their intent to kill me. I still think its concerning that she's keeping our exit plans vague. On the other hand, empathetic people aren't exactly cold blooded killers. Maybe its a rouse? Frag, I dunno.*