"""Well now, that's a question. You could scoot around the old town. Maybe some of them tried to camp out there for fun but I wouldn't. If she's not in there then chances are she is one of the lucky ones that already hitched a ride out. Oh, or maybe she's one of those who keep drifting out every time a truck comes out, trying to scam their way out. You could see her in the lot, I guess.""

Blue nods as good intel comes in. """Thanks for the info. You got any nutri-bars or something reasonably nutritious? I'm getting a bit peckish."""

Blue takes what he can get from the manager. """Thanks. Might see you later. """

Once they are outside, Blue starts a plan with Karmakaze. """ Well, let's try that building first. If we can't get a straight answer, I can use my spell-on-a-stick to see if she is in range."

+++Damn, +++ he thinks to himself. +++ I've almost run out of those sticks. They make me need money almost as much as a wired up samurai. +++

Karma finds safer parking than offered by the neglected building. She parks the car where they can make a quick exit if needed, the row next to the building so they won't have to dodge gunfire in the open if it comes to it.

"""Well, let's get to it."""

Blue sets his spirit to Guard the car. Once they enter the building, the rest of its services will be lost, but it will keep doing this last one till dawn.

""" Wait, he says to Karmakaze. """ before we get into contact with anyone, let me make that mindlink with you , so we can communicate with each other privately. I will drop it if I need to get physical, well, or magical, so as to have the best chance to succeed. Till then, though, private comms with emotions and imagery that can't be hacked might be good. """

[OOC If Karmakaze agrees the roll is below]

The air smells of refuse and petrochemicals. Tribal lands or not, this is a place of people and machinery in transit. On the other hand, it is also redolent of the wet coniferous forest so the odours of rot and mushrooms pervade as well.

Blue checks the link to Karmakaze. +++This getting through? +++

Blue tries a second time, thinking a little harder. +++ You there, Karmakaze? +++

+++ Hello? Is it working? I don't think it is working. - Oh! I hear you now! +++

+++ Good. How do we proceed? This kind of investigation is right up your alley, I suspect." +++

Blue finds the mixture of smells oddly reminiscent of the Biozu premises. Wow. Only seven days ago he was in what seems like another world.

Unlike BioZu, here Blue has to buy his own cake. Or would, if there were any pastry shops around. Instead, there are a few people moving between buildings, dressed for the weather (which makes casual identification difficult). Surely most people are huddled inside.

+++ Straight to the point. We are just looking for someone that her family hired us to find. Get as much information as we can, even if it seems unhelpful now, it may mean something more later. We don't play weak or too strong, just straight forward. Ready? +++

+++ Let's go. +++

Karma nods in agreement, then leads the way to the front door.

The building is pretty much what it looked like from afar, even on close inspection. Dull, unpainted masonry with creepers starting to grow on it and, of course, abundant patches of moss and lichen. The doors are utilitarian but solid.

Nobody stops or even queries Karmakaze and Blue as they enter, but there are people drifting around.

There is an atrium of sorts, with a couple of staircases leading up from it. There is a trio of elevators as well. Two look normal, one has a wider door - presumably a freight elevator.

An ork who had been sitting up against the wall of the atrium, looking at rain beading on the dirty windows, stiffly gets to his feet and addresses Karmakaze. """Hoi, chummer. You rolling out to the city?"""

He's perhaps an inch shorter than Karmakaze, but easily as broad as Blue. His clothing could be described as well-worn Seattle street hodgepodge.

Blue lets Karmakaze do the schmooze. He opens his perception to the astral to see if anything of note is floating around here.

The only thing worth noting astrally is that the building is sick; it is under attack by environmental factors, and little leafy gremlins are chewing slowly at the concrete.

The building isn't about to collapse, but it's ill-maintained and Blue would definitely tell an insurer to refuse coverage.

As Karmakaze interacts with the ork staffer, Blue shares, +++ Nothing on the astral, but this place is really run down. +++

+++Got it+++, Karma tells Blue.

"""We are actually looking for a someone,""" she tells the ork. ""Her family is looking for her. She is on hard times, and her last known location had her being removed from Seattle to here within the last week or two."""

She provides the description of Daisy.

"""I don't have a recent picture, because she had changed her appearance, and has been away from her family for some time. However, they are willing to pay for her return."""

The ork grunts and his face falls when Karmakaze dodges the point. Then he lifts his head again. """If I find this girl, I can ride out witchoo? I ride inna trunk, I don't care."""

It's quite obvious that he's not motivated by anything except getting the hell away from Concrete.

Blue emotes to Karmakaze. +++ Smuggling an Ork back to the city work for you?+++

"""Well, we drove an Elektro, so every seat is like riding in the trunk."""

The ork doesn't answer right away, wanting a clear answer. Karmakaze makes it clear that she agrees to the terms of the deal.

"""If you find the girl, you got yourself a ride.

"""So what is your name, chummer?"""

She reaches out her hand to shake on the deal.

He half-grins, and shakes. """You gotcha. I'm Torquey. Mosta da girlz onna fifth floor, but they come down. Look, you c'n come with me an' we'll look. Betcha she's up there."""

Without waiting, he swings to the staircase and starts taking the stairs two at a time. Whether it's hope or confidence that has galvanised him is hard to say, but he certainly seems to be heading upstairs in complete contrast to his earlier lethargy.

Blue thinks for a split second. Of course, the thoughts transmit to Karmakaze. +++The orc is heavily invested in keeping the two of us alive, so he can take point. I'm the soft, squidgy one, so I'll go next. Karmakaze can cover the rear from the inevitable trouble that comes. +++

He jumps into the middle place and follows the orc.

+++ Okay... but what if he is the threat? +++

+++Then I'll have to deal with the consequences of my miscalculation.+++ Blue chuckles.

A few dozen steps and a couple of grunting pants later, and they all emerge on the fifth floor. Truth be told, the building is a mid-rise slum. It's run down, half the services don't work, and the people in it look mostly miserable. On the fifth floor, it's no better. Several women drift in and out of doorways, and stare at the arrivals with dull eyes like drugged cattle.

Torquey speaks up: """Yo, girlz, lookin' for one ta go back!"" This creates a bit of a stir, and life comes back to their eyes. They seem to be sizing Karmakaze and Blue up, trying to judge this possibility and the odds.

Karmakaze scans the quickly gathering crowd for any similarities to Daisy.

It takes a moment, but Karmakaze spots her. She looks, at first, like one of the other curious women, but there's something about the jawline ... there it is. The facial recognition software picks her out perfectly. Everything from depth of the nose bridge to the cut chin, the length of the neck - it's her, or an identical twin. No two ways about it.

+++ I got her. Watch my back, Blue +++ Karma thought to him.

She cut through the crowd, guarding her weapons from being pulled by anyone but her. Karma watches Daisy's reaction as she tell her, """Daisy, Booker sent me to find you. Let's get out of here. Immediately."""

Blue looks around to see who might interfere with their move to get Daisy.

Daisy looks startled, but nods and starts to step forward. Nobody else responds for a moment, then a gradual chorus of other voices starts to rise. """Hey, what about me?""" """Daisy's my best friend, I should go with her!""" """Me and Booker grew up together, he meant me!"""

Torquey rolls his eyes, and grumbles in a heavy bass: """Yo, only room fer one! Shaddap!"""

They don't seem to be listening to him.

Karmakaze holds her bounty hunter credentials out for the crowd to see, slowly panning it around so everyone gets a look.

"""Anyone of you also wanted by the police or court system? I would be glad to make this trip extra profitable."""

She pulls a couple sets of flex cuffs from her pocket, ready to restrain any takers.

Blue is impressed. +++ Nice touch! +++

Wow. What a difference just a little contextual information makes. The crowd shrinks back like the red sea parting. Daisy, to her credit, bows her head and says: """Soka. I come quietly. I got nowhere else to go."""

She matches action to words by stepping forward to Karmakaze's side.

Most of the women are paying Blue very little mind, although they naturally all can see him. The big and buff ork is a lot more relevant in the moment as a proximate physical threat, and Karmakaze's identity bears its own clear message.

Torquey grunts: """Awright. Check you girls later. We outta here."""

Blue positions himself at the head of the stairs and looks to see if any others follow or anyone comes up the stairs to potentially block.

There are no blockers, but a couple of girls do ask in hopeful tones whether they could be afforded a ride back.

Karmakaze's eye suggests to her that they are really missing whichever drugs they had in ready supply, back in the city. This was not a healthy population of young ladies at all.

Blue shakes his head and resigns to one of life's cardinal rules. +++ It sucks drek you can't save the world, eh? +++

"""Torquey, you lead the way. Blue, you got rear security."""

Karmakaze walks Daisy like a captive down the stairs, her hand gripping the back of Daisy's shirt. Near the bottom of the stairs she switches places with the captive in case there is any unwanted presence.

"""Stay behind me. Keep your hand on my back so I know where you are.

"""Torquey. Lead us out. When you open the door cover to the right. My car is to the left. I will go that way. Once secure, I will get Daisy in the car. Then Blue. Then you come to me. Got it?

"""Let's go."""

Torquey is either experienced, or a quick study. He's not an ork of many words, but signals agreement with a grumble and a grunt.

Daisy humbly comes along, without trouble or complaint, and sits quietly in the car when the door slams shut on her. Torquey squeezes his bulk in as best he may, and says: """Rrah. Let's roll back ta city!"""

Already the interior of Karmakaze's little car feels modern and fancy compared to the decay and neglect all around them, like a little haven of high tech.

Blue steps aside to let the others go ahead. While they line up and do so, he opens to the astral momentarily to see if anything is observing them. This all seems too easy so far.

He reiterates that worry to Karmakaze. +++ Surely whoever brought these people here have some kind of security. Where is it? +++ Once back from the astral he plans to ask Torquey about it.

Blue gets an idea. +++ Hey. Daisy is a cop, isn't she? You have an extra firearm she could carry? +++

So far, so easy. Too easy, besides the careful origami that Torquey has to engage in to fit into the car.

Other than that, the little car's wheels turn and start off smoothly enough, grumbling down the road back in the direction of the old I-5 highway between Seattle and Bellingham.

Blue is uneasy. As the car is about to set out, he thinks to Karmakaze. +++ Karmakaze, I think I will call a spirit to support us. I'm not sure what terrain we are going to be in, so I will get an air spirit that will work for us anywhere outside, in the town or on the road. I'm disconnecting our mental connection to make the summoning easier. Blue out. +++ He drops the Mindlink spell.



Blue addresses the spirit. ::: Thank you for answering my call. We will be travelling in this vehicle. Please Guard the four of us and this vehicle from trouble and difficulties. Stay with us in the astral as we go. :::

As the spirit materializes, a swirl of fog and droplets of water envelop the four of them and the vehicle and then it dissipates as the spirit returns to the astral.

"""I summoned a spirit to help us on our way. We should be a bit safer now. I'm going to need a few minutes to clear my head. """

While Blue does his thing, Torquey feels a bit more chatty.

"""Hoi, glad ta be outtathere. Fraggin' mess, dat wuz. Dey dumped us wit' no plan, nuthin'."""

Torquey's remark strikes a note in Blue's mind. +++ We were so quick to get out of there. Had we stayed a bit, we could have gleaned some info that might have been useful regarding our long-term interests. Maybe these people can give up something useful. +++

""" So, what was going on here, anyway? Why were you people taken and brought here, and who did it? """

"""Da clean-up crew. Dat's what dey said. We's banished. Get onna bus an live elsewhere, or die in Green Lake.""" He snarls and licks a tusk. """O' course, dat wuz after dey killed a couple. Just ta show dey wuz serious. Dey said, we wuz wrong for da neighbourhood, dere's a bus, get on it. Da buses drive us all out, dump us up here."""

"""Huh. You know who the clean-up crew people are? Who they work for?""" Blue has a good idea who, but evidence is always better.

"""Yeah, 'sda pollydemons. Course it wuz. Dey paid some rentacops ta do da clean-up, but it wuz pollydemons. Fraggers t'ink dey's da noo council."""

As he gets more excited about it, his trog accent slips to a heavier form. Clearly, all of this gets under his skin.

Blue assimilates this info. """Daisy, you're being quiet. Was it the same for you?"""