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Volker
bnc nods impressed. "thanks", she says somewhat plainly and, too, in English.
"I'd take breakfast at eleven. Need a good snooze."
SquirrelDude
"Thanks"

Sharkboy took a keycard for the room closest to the hallway entrance from the Troll and then asked "I trust there aren't any cameras in the rooms and certainly not the bathrooms?"
Thanee
Nova had to chuckle lightly, when Sharkboy asked about the cameras.

Sure, they have cameras. In the bathroom. What kind of messed-up joints are you used to stay in!? She kept her thoughts to herself, though.

"Thank you! We do not expect any trouble and we are certainly not here to cause any, so everything should be fine," Nova said reassuringly, while taking one of the keycards as well.
Jack_Spade
The troll nodded and smiled back: "All the better."
The rooms turned out to be clean, camera free and reasonably aired, considering that they didn't have windows.
SquirrelDude
Sharkboy entered his room alone, closed the door, dropped his bag, and celebrated being alone by taking off his mask for the first time in days.

"Thank frag."
Luckace
Wraith thanked the troll, grabbed one keycard and after a "Good night, everyone. ", the young mage retreated into his room, where he tossed his bag into a corner.
Phew. What a day.
Gilga
Anna feels disappointed for going along with that ridiculous shadowrunner hotel. She needs some rest, and her recent breakthrough on counterspelling needs some brushing. Once there she initially wants to seat in with her books but decides to go to the sauna/swimming instead. Somehow she seems to understand more when she experiences life rather than read mindblowing essays about mages and mundanes working together in perfect coordination.

As if she would ever have the discipline to be like that... She'll take some aspects of the material and then move on as if she always does. Integrating seemingly unrelated magical disciplines and personalizing them to her own. At any case, one of the benefits of following Chaos - is that nobody can tell her that going to the swimming pool is neglecting her talent. She has an excuse for anything!
SquirrelDude
As he began to adjust to taking off his mask, Christoph began to realize just how dirty and sore he was. He put on the hot water for a bath and reveled in getting out of his Berwick suit, his FFBA, releasing the sweat they'd trapped against him. As he fully submerged himself and happily exercised his gills, Danielson considered asking the hotel for some bags of ice, extra towels, plastic bags, and the other accouterments he usually had around for post-fight care. He decided it would be easier to just make sure his door was locked and numb the pain with a syringe of dopadrine instead.
Luckace
Haven sunken into a comfy chair, Wraith noticed that he was far from finding rest. There was just too much on his mind: The daring heists, meeting his old friend, his new teammates and the guilt of having sacrificed his spiritual companion Undiel - the day's excitement still dominated his thoughts. I need to clear my mind.
Wraith's first thought was to take a dose of zen and hopefully drift off into a dreamless slumber, but he knew better. Drugs could numb his mind, but not clear it. What he needed was fresh air, serenity and the lord's comfort.

He underwent a quick matrix-search for the nearest chapel (or any place where one could worship) and decided to go there to pray.
Only minutes after entering the cozy hotel room, Wraith left again and headed back out into the cold. His bike roared as he drove off into the night and returned roughly half an hour later.
Volker
bnc makes sure the door room is locked behind her, before she allows herself to lean against the door and inhale and exhale deeply. It was a hell of a night, more than she was up to. While James runs off to the next Spar market to buy a six-tray of Peach V and a six-tray of VAnanas, she pulls off her hoody and walks into the bathroom. I should repair my deck, she thinks, and for a moment there's a spark of hope that the task ahead would distract her, would keep her going.
But no, this wasn't urgent enough. It wouldn't occupy her mind.

The doorbell interrupts her. knock knock-knock-knock-knock knock knock knock. James.
"Du starrst dir seit 10 Minuten in den Spiegel, du förböveln freak", she tells herself, before she walks to the door, checks the security cam, and opens up for James.
[ Spoiler ]

"You guard the door, buddy", bnc tells James in English, out of habit, then grabs the booze. The first peachy is down, before she disappears in a (for any male standards) hellishly hot shower.
Jack_Spade
The next chappel was only five minutes away, barely necessary to use the bike. Luckace found himself in a beautifully maintained St. Mary chappel with a small pew and the icon behind sturdy metal bars.
It was quite peaceful inside, albeit very cold.

James had managed to gather all necessary supplies from a local auto-vending machine. The VAnanas was past it's best-before date but didn't taste any different than she remembered. The Peach V had a promotion on it: Hans Habicht's latest album of Après-Ski hits as a sim-sense recording.

Sharkboy found the small fridge with the minibar contained also a decent amount of ice. Combined with the wash cloths those would make a decent cold pack - but dopadrine worked too. What luck that he didn't need to keep his head above water to keep breathing...

Meanwhile Anna had found the small pool. It was barely long enough to swim three or four fast strokes before she had to turn around again - like a goldfish in a bowl. At least the water had the right temperature. When she came up, she looked at the figure of a lone elf in swimming trunks standing next to the pool, a towel held in his hands across his neck. He was well muscled and sported a blond mohawk.
He smiled when he noticed she noticed him. With quite a friendly tone he said:
"Tschuldigung, I hätt nett dacht so spat no so a netts madl am Pool z'treffa. Is da no a Platz fia mi in dera Wanna?"
Thanee
Nova had thought about going down to the swimming pool, but they were here to keep a low profile and she was not sure how mingling with some of the other guests would maintain that, especially considering that about half her body was made of metal. Inconspicuous was not exactly the term that would come to mind.

Instead, she settled for a nice, long bath in her room.

While the hot water was filling up the tub, Nova used the comm system to ask for an overnight cleaning service for her clothes. She had some spares in her backpack, a super revealing club dress with fitting high heels, a tracksuit, and some pretty casual stuff, jeans, long-sleeve t-shirt, and sneakers, the latter she would use in the meantime.

After the bath, she went through all her equipment and sorted and cleaned everything properly before putting it back in its place. She spent more time with the Ares Alpha they had looted from the warehouse overseer, since it was new to her.
SquirrelDude
[ Spoiler ]


At some point during his dopadrine bath, Christoph had to refill the tub with warm water. He couldn't really say when, and it hadn't been very efficient, as he'd lazily tried to manage it just using his feet without bringing his head back above water. When he finally got out after about an hour his body was properly pruned. Having gills and "shark skin" didn't make him a fish, after all. He took the opportunity to shave for the first time in days. The gills could make it a bit of a troublesome process, especially when he was coming down from a pain relief high. A few nicks were less annoying that the stubble rubbing against everything under the mask.

After shaving, Christoph admired himself in the mirror for a bit. The pruning and the lack of baby oil that he'd wear out to the ring as Sharkboy kept him from looking his absolute best, but there didn't appear to be any new scarring or injuries that would need to get covered up by ring-gear later. He took some water and soap and began to clean off his mask inside and out. He couldn't exactly take it to get dry cleaned, and it would smell worse if he didn't at least do this much.

As he exited the bathroom, Christoph knew he should put the mask back on, but he was going to be greedy with this time off. After watching a couple old Slade the Sniper episodes, he slipped into just a pair of sweat pants and used the comm system to make a couple requests.

"Good evening. This is room 4. I have a few requests

"First, if the kitchen is still open, I'd like to order some room service. A double order of Backhendl with a side of Spätzle and a cold bottle of Stiegl. Second, I have some clothes I'd like to get dry cleaned while we're here. One suit and some spandex. If possible, I'd prefer to use the dumbwaiter. Buzz me when I need to go pick something up.

"Finally, does this hotel happen to have some kind of gym on the property. Not one nearby, but one that is inside the building?"

Gilga
Anna's English is rudimentary but she appreciates good looks and has a weakness to elves like the rest of the populace. Though, her last lover is an Orc.
"Es ist ein öffentliches Pool" she says a bit hesitantly.

[ Spoiler ]


Jack_Spade
Nova found the cleaning service as part of the secret hotel - including a special mention of blood removal.
Taking apart the Ares Alpha showed her, that it had been manufactured under license in Europe and was practically brand new. Wear and tear showed that the rifle had likely fired fewer than 400 rounds and the grenade launcher probably no more than low double digits. Some parts were definitely custom made - including the hand grip.


Sharkboy receives a swift reply:
"It will take a little while, but at least the beer will be delivered in a minute. Just put your laundry in the dumb waiter, I'll see to it.
As for a gymn, we have a small one adjacent to the sauna. Otherwise I can bring you some of my own weights and a bench",
the troll replied.

Meanwhile, the elf had noticed Anna's accent and switched to English:
"I'll take that as a yes."
With casual ease, the elf tossed the towel to the nearby bench and slipped into the pool without causing any kind of splash.
"Servus, I'm called Splitterbruch, what's your name?"
SquirrelDude
"No need to rush the beer. I'd prefer if it came with the food.

"Thanks for the offer of the weights and bench, but the Sauna should be okay. I'm really just looking for a treadmill, elliptical or some other machine to keep my cardio in check so I don't get blown up."


Christoph gathered up his Mortimer of London Berwick Suit and FFBA before putting his on his mask and Sharkboy took them to the dumbwaiter.
Luckace
After twenty-something minutes, Wraith surrendered to the cold and made his way back to the welcome warmth of their hotel, looking forward to some late dinner and a good night's sleep.
Volker
bnc doesn't take care of either her damaged deck nor her spoiled clothing. For the rest of the evening, she locks herself up and stays offline. Three cans of PeachV, two cans of VAnanas, a chunk of golden mirror, a line of bananadust and a spliff of zen turn her brain enough into mush that she can finally find some restless sleep. The rest can wait.
Gilga
Anna replies "Anna, nice to meet you. Mr. Splitterbruch. " then she tries hard to suppress a grin as she realize the meaning of Splitterbruch, to be something kind of a splinter "That is not really your name handsome, is it?"
Jack_Spade
Splitterbruch laughed: "It's my street handle, baby, because it's what I got the first time I tried to punch out a security troll - splintered all my finger bones in my right hand. Don't look so shocked. You are a runner, aren't you? Why else would a mage and initate be in this hotel?"

He began to slowly float on his back: "The Adler is the best place around here if one of us wants to lay low for a few days."
Gilga
Anna giggles at the elf "You punched a troll? How did that happen?" . Shortly after she'll ask "So, you can see the type of talent I have? or have you background check me?"

[ Spoiler ]
Jack_Spade
"A talent for astral perception and just enough chrome not to lose it completely." The man grinned. "You can do a lot of things without actually being an adept or a mage.
The troll thing happened years ago when I was younger, dumber and less augmented. I'm just enjoying a few days of rest after a job in Germany. It's always nice to come here and enjoy the safety.
So, who is your sponsor? Abdecker or Lilith?"
Gilga
Anna assenses the man, and asks "So you could punch a troll right now? " clearly impressed. She adds "Safety is boring... I wanted to do some sightseeing, friends picked this option instead. I am sort of on 'the big trip' after school. I am into exploring and experiencing and stuff." she explains.

(Anna will buy 3 hits in assensing).
Jack_Spade
Splitterbruch sported several augmentations visible on the astral: His bones had been reinforced as had his hands. A particular cluster along his spine indicated that he also had augmented reflexes as well as something that suffused his complete body. He had told the truth about magic: There was only the tiniest amount of magic left, but it had been enough for him to master a weapon focus in the form of a very subtle tatoo on his right palm. Otherwise, he was perfectly healthy, a quick healer even, and a naturally gifted martial artist.
"A world tour with your team? Well, that's surely something. But say, if you are looking for excitement... I have a perfectly exciting experience for you up in my room." The runner grined and winked in a very wolfish way.
Gilga
Anna returns a lustful look, she is so very charged from the heist and yearns release, and he is a passionate and augmented elf. "Come closer," she says and looks the man in the eyes. "Be gentle with me" she says.
Jack_Spade
"Always..."
Splitterbruch turned out to be a perfectly decent companion, with just the right balance of aggression, passion and attention.

The next morning began late for most of the team. Breakfast turned out to be an amazing selection of cold cuts, real butter, freshly baked bread, confiture as well as eggs and lots of hot soycaf.
Gilga
Anna wakes up a bit early and sneaks out of Splitterbruch's apartment leaving him her card in case he stays around. She showers and returns to sleep, only to arrive at breakfast late morning. She packs her plate and eyes the seating area looking for a familiar face.
SquirrelDude
Christoph got up relatively early. He wasn't eager to start his routine, but it was the time that he was least likely to run into onlookers. He threw on a stringer and his sweatpants before Sharkboy headed down to the gym by the Sauna with a towel to do a few miles on whatever machine was available.

When breakfast was called, Sharkboy made his way back through the wardrobe and directly towards the food with sweat still dripping off his purple hair. Covering his plate with cold cuts and eggs with a couple pieces of bread and butter, he passed on the coffee and took a couple bottles of water along with his plate quietly back to his room.
Volker
When bnc stumbles into the breakfast room, she looks both drained and regenerated. The complete shutdown and a good night's sleep under the influence of Zen somewhat restored her. Still, the night left traces. Her head aches and her belly cramps (she hasn't eaten in ages), there are dark rings under her eyes and she walks somewhat awkwardly. Still, there's a smile on her face as she takes a soycaf, a bit of muesli (if they have any) and even a slice of bread, butter and fat-reduced ham and joins Anna in her breakfast.
She raises an eyebrow and asks in a dry tone: "Whom did you get laid? I can see it in that stupid grin you only wear after having had a good dick or two."
Luckace
Showing up in casual clothing at the breakfast room, Wraith looks a bit different than the day before:
He had finally had an opportunity to shower off the blonde dye he used to disguise his hair with at the BMW-museum, and his real hair turned out to be mouse-brown and as "status quo" as it gets. Without his armor jacket or lined coat, he looked pretty small and appeared to be quite slender.

Despite the night of rest, his eyes look tired and he moves slowly as if some part of him was latently aching - comparable to people with migraine, perhaps. He doesn't seem to be inconvenienced by that, though, and is apparently in a good mood.
He greets the team with a "Morning, fellas.", and slowly and a bit stiffly walks to the soycaf machine. He's obviously hungry, and apart from three soycafs he also devours a large pile of fried eggs and several bread rolls.
Volker
bnc grins, when she sees Wraith, and shakes her head.
"What a freakshow we are. Give us a day off, and all that's left of us is two cripples that can barely walk, a boy who runs about in a superhero costume and a slitch.", bnc mutters under her breath.
Thanee
"Did any of you actually sleep tonight?"

Nova joined the breakfast fairly late, coming fresh out of the shower. She had been up early and outside for some training rounds, light running and some exercises. Her blonde hair was only half-dry, but unlike most of her team-mates she looked like she actually got some good rest during the night. For once not wearing trés chic business attire or combat gear, she was dressed in washed-out jeans, sneakers, and a black long-sleeve t-shirt with black gloves covering her hands. Apart from those she simply looked perfectly normal, and even then, AR gloves were not such an unusual sight.

She fetched herself a cup of coffee and a small plate of food for breakfast, not a whole lot, but then again, her body had considerably fewer muscles to feed.
Gilga
Anna responds with a silly smile "Wraith of course... You know that I am attracted to mages. A difficult name to scream tough. Mine is much easier."
[ Spoiler ]

Anna responds to Nova "I slept like a baby", and she did. She enjoys breakfast, but don't overdo it as she plans to go to the gym after breakfast.


SquirrelDude
Christoph took his breakfast in his room, figuring this would be one of his last times in a while that he'd get to be out from under the mask. He sent the team a quick text, realizing he should have said something before dipping into the room again.

@team>> I'm going to finish breakfast, take a quick shower so I don't stink up the place, and then we should talk about what we do from here.<<
Luckace
It takes Wraith a moment to jump onto the train, and for a second he just stares surprisedly at Anna with his mouth full of fried eggs.
He then shrugs guiltily as if found-out and murmurs "Coulb'v simply gagged you...", before changing subjects.
" So... Any news from the Christkind when we get our presents? Or... Santa, I guess.", and he points his fork unsurely at Nova and Anna.
"Looking forward to not being the only biker in the gang."

@team:
<<Aye. Let's see if they have a secluded room or so where we can talk freely.>>
Jack_Spade
It turned out that each of their rooms was large enough to house their impromptu strategy meeting.
Volker
bnc's eyes grow wide. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but then just sets to smiling and lazily joins the conversation.
After the breakfast, she excuses herself and takes a shower.

<@team<my rooms a mess maybe some1 kept it tidy?>>
Gilga
Anna enjoys breakfast and is in a good mood. After breakfast, she passes by the reception and asks "Do you have some gym, or a treadmill and some weights?"

She texts back >> we can meet at my room, no problem. Just give me a few minutes to tidy up.

Afterward, she'll arrive at the room and stash her personal belongings, pick up the dirty clothes she left on the floor when she showered and re-set the bed. She'll need about five minutes to get the room to a vanilla state.
Volker
Freshly showered, bnc stretches and bends a bit, then puts on some comfortable jogging clothes (with which she doesn't intent to jog at all). She looks into the mirror and sees a wreck. Sighing, she shortly considers putting on some make-up, but then dismisses the idea, and walks over to Anna's room.
She looks around, then her eyes dart to the big bed in the middle of the room.

"Is this where...?"
Gilga
Anna replies "Do I look like a noob? We did it in his room so that I can leave when I want to.
Luckace
Wraith takes his time to finish his third cup of hot soycaf, then returns to his own room for a few moments. He arrives at Anna's room shortly after bnc.
SquirrelDude
Christoph promised quick shower, but it takes a little while as he prepares himself to get back under the mask for a while. He cleaned his mask again, combed his hair, and went out to get into his suit before realizing it was still downstairs being cleaned. He settled for another tank top with some athletic shorts and a blue windbreaker jacket before knocking on the door to Anna's room.
Gilga
Anna arranges the smal couch and chair around the bed, and then seats on the bed. "So, what are we talking about?" she asks.
SquirrelDude
Sharkboy had asked for this conversation, so he started off.

"So we think we know where BeanSi is, but we don't know where she is. We think we've eliminated the Crusaders, but we still have another group chasing her. The wizard that hired Auto-shotty and Magic-Axe is unaccounted for. It's probably safe to assume that once we start looking we're going be watched.

"The last two times we tracked down a lead, we got into some unpleasant fights from people who were already watching those locations. They're probably going to be there this time too, especially if we make waves and let people know were prowling around there. How do we try and find our target without alerting everyone that we know where she is?"

Gilga
Anna looks at bnc and asks "Shouldn't Kynos be somewhere in Germany? Perhaps we can hire him to do some recon."
She thinks to herself or "Splinterbruch, providing he is not too hot to get out of this place. Otherwise, he is certainly hot enough for me though... what a night."
Thanee
Nova was still dressed in her casual attire, same as during the breakfast.

"Didn't Abdecker mention the carnival? But I guess that won't happen until it gets closer to the date of the hit. The main question is, can we find her before that date? If she is in Salzburg already, what will she be doing there in terms of preparations? She likely has all the equipment she needs, since Abdecker provided her with some items before she left. According to what he said, she is not going in there silently. An assortment of weapons and a few kilos of plastic explosives. So, she is likely just waiting for the day to arrive. She might be monitoring the place in the Steingasse, though. Maybe that way we could get her attention somehow?"
Gilga
"We may have enough of an impression of her to search for her with a spirit. She may be not very far from the location she intends to attack. I am uncertain how other factions should know where and when to look for her, but perhaps they would. This is a very specific hint form a person she trusts. I think that the most risk to her right now is we expose her simply by going there. We pissed off many people and are likely to draw attention.
SquirrelDude
Sharkboy brought his hands up to his face, making his best hand steeple to appear thoughtful. "The spirit idea is on the right track, but we don't exactly have time to search the city block by block. It would help if we knew some places she might go or was at least familiar with."

Sharkboy looked over at bnc, "If you have some ideas, maybe you and Wraith can start there. You have the best chance of getting a word in before your sister sees more mercs and fights or flights. Nova and I are pretty easy to identify, so maybe we go kick up some trouble elsewhere to keep eyes off of you."
Thanee
Nova did not quite agree with that. "You surely have something distinctive about you, especially with that mask. I can be fairly inconspicuous, however, if needed. I mean, sure, if someone uses a cyberware or MAD scanner, or that special magic gaze, but apart from that, I don't think my appearance would raise any eyebrows in a normal place."

To underline her remark, she swirled around in her "girl next door" casual look ending her little pirouette with a nice flourish, which seemed rather effortless on her part, thanks to some pretty extensive training in dance.
SquirrelDude
Sharkboy's mask hid what his eyes were tracking during that pirouette. "I was assuming that whatever outfit you decided on, a big gun would be the accessory to bring it all together."
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