Booker bows his head and rubs his eyes. """It ain't that simple, Kris. It's not a single case, and it's not allowed to be. It's a policlub. They got some big friends - look, can we not discuss this aloud?"""

"""Look, sir; We are already on the dreklist. I figured while we were there, we could at least be useful to you. If you don't want the help,""" Karmakaze started walking away midsentence, """then we will find other work."""

She headed for the counter with her slushy drink in hand.

Booker turns to Blue with a jaundiced look, and vast weariness in his eyes. """Quick matix chat, chummer?"""

"""You got it.""" He opens a matrix link to Booker. <<<What's up?>>>

Booker looks relieved, and starts to quickly subvocalise through the Matrix to Blue:

<<<Awright. Look here: PoliDemos is a policlub, but unlike most policlubs which push a specific agenda, these lovely ladies - yeah, most of their upper structure is female - started in one place and ended up in a totally different one. Originally, years ago, they were all about private gated communities. They wanted the kind of lifestyle that corpozones get, complete with local jurisdiction. Well, frag that because they were never getting to seceed, nor do the AAA extraterritorial thing, scan? So they shifted their focus. They way they saw it, their real competition was corporate power and they particularly identified their enemies as being private security. See, they tried to contract with Knight Errant at first, but Knight Errant refused to do some things that PoliDemos didn't have the right to do. Anyway, long story short they now have a plan to return police and security functions to state hands. But while doing that, they're blending in protection racket and vigilante stuff and trying to give blame for their failures to corpsec and criminal elements, and credit for their successes to mainline politicians. This is why they're cleaning up the streets, but also pushing heavy on small businesses and local nonconformists. Scan? But there's more, because now local politicos have realised that PoliDemos is a potent backer.>>>

Blue forwards the matrix info to Karmakaze and invites her in. <<<More secure in here than out in the air of S Shack. So, Booker, a bunch of wealthy society women are pushing the political and security agenda, with their own twist added in. We met one of these ladies a few days ago. Is there anyone pushing back? >>>

<<<Pushing back? Sure, I guess. But not too openly, because telling Mommy Cookiebaker to face the wall for supporting the gov'ment and lawnorder looks bad. The problem really is that these ladies have lots of expertise too. They're not just staying home and minding the bots and zoning out on TriD; they're executives and marketers and psychologists and they have skills and knowledge and they get it done. Add in, many of them have high-powered husbands that they use for intel, swing, and subversion of opposition. It's hard for Chris Corpoman to say no to his wife when she has his balls in her hands.>>>

Blue opines. <<<The whole thing looks really nebulous. K and I put the boots to one lady's machinations, but I'm not sure where to go next, or even if we want to. >>>

<<<Depends on what you wanna do, I guess, but as far as we're concerned they're organised crime. On the surface all political and fluffy, but kidnapping hundreds of people and shipping them over borders? That's trafficking, at least.>>>

"""Well, I've got a long list of things to do and buy before I get too involved with local politics. So, I'm glad your back home, Daisy, and maybe you can keep doing what you do without the Home Owners' Association getting on your case again. If you do get deported, well, Karmakaze and I know where to look for you, anyway. """

Blue finishes his drink and looks at Karmakaze. """I guess it's time to head home."""

"""I guess so. I just hate leaving things left undone."""

It is late, but not by the shadowrunner's clock, let alone that of an owl shaman.

"""You want to get dinner somewhere? There is a Stuffer Shack XL on the western shoreline of Ballard..."""

Blue looks at her, but isn't sure if she is joking or not.

Booker simply nods in quiet farewell, and heads out to take Daisy away, no doubt for an extended debrief.

Blue replies to Karmakaze as he nods a goodbye to the other two, """OK. I am a bit peckish now that i think of it. """ As they head to the other location in her car, Blue adds, """ I've got a couple of weeks worth of work to do to set up my magical lodge, acquire some goodies, learn a spell or two. We can keep in touch, and think about how we might approach the things we know about.

"""I am still worried about my erstwhile friend's niece who is still in danger of being recruited into evil. I might want to look into that if you are willing."""

"""While you are on your magical retreat, I will try and do some light recon on their area of operations. I have a feeling this isn't the last time we are going to be dealing with this poli club.

"""You can contact me when you are done with your rituals. We can follow up with your niece, continue looking into this policlub, if there is money in it, or we can look for work."""

"""Sounds good. Let's eat!"""

After a tasty snack and a ride home, Blue bids Karmakaze adieu. """Thanks. We've done well together so far. I've got some rebuilding to do, lodge and spells and things, so I'll be busy for almost three weeks. If you hear from your guy about those two items I asked for, some form-fitting armor and a knife, if you can, please take them off his hands. Here's 5000 nuyen that should cover the deal. Once I'm free to talk, I'll get in touch and we can carry on with whatever we think should be done next."""

Blue goes in his apartment and summons Sweez once daybreak comes.



::: Thanks for Coming, Sweez. I got some work to do here that'll take me two or three weeks. I'm gonna need protection for that time, so I'd like to call on you a lot during the work. I know that'll be a heavy on you, so I'll try to think up something to make it up to you. For now, keep vigil in the astral and let me know if something comes our way. :::

Once Sweez is on patrol, Blue drops a line to Mary Margaret and gives her a shopping list of things he woulds like to buy. He tells her he will be out of touch for about six days, but will contact her on the seventh. He lets her know he is good for the money it will take.



Then he sets out the materials for his magical lodge and begins the construction and purification process.

"""Null sweat. I got some stuff to get from Jaxx, as well."""

Karma returns home to her place for some much needed R&R. She is about to pull in the one-car garage, but then paranoia gets the best of her. She parks on the street and inspects the approach.

+++I should have asked Blue to summon a spirit to protect my place.+++ She laughed to herself. Two weeks ago the idea of spirits creeping about gave her the chills. Now the fact that one wasn't creeping about, she felt uneasy.

After clearing the house, checking the doors and windows for sign of disturbance, and clearing the perimeter, she pulled the car in the garage, reentered the house, and finally tried to relax.

She sat down on the couch and looked around again to see if Blue had left a spirit to protect her hearth.

Blue is aware, at a periliminal level, of Sweez apparently engaging in a long-running rave. He can't quite recognise the music, but it blends effortlessly with the pounding from the club when it's running. He can't quite guess what drugs might be driving Sweez - but maybe it's just his nature. He sees glimpses of flickering lights, and when in the process of establishin his lodge he views the astral directly it's like slipping into the dungeon of a wildly overpowered psychedelic club. With an owl theme. Owl's eyes seem to stare in rainbow hues from everywhere.

Karma's only identifiable disturbance is a vagrant huddled behind the garbage bins. Of course, she could not see any spirits, but other than that there are no signs of penetration or vandalism in her domicile. While she tried to work out the knots developing in her shoulders, headline news drifted through her electronics:

CRYSTAL CHURCH CHARITY CREATES CHEER
ENCLAVE ARTISTIC REPUTATION LEGACY NOT REALITY
CONTRACT RENEWAL YEAR HERALDS TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS
BARRENS RECLAMATION REVIEW PROJECT REPORT LEAK
INVASIVE SPECIES OR BENEFICIAL? DEBATES ON METAHUMANITY

With nothing pressing, Karma checks some of the articles.

BARRENS RECLAMATION REVIEW PROJECT REPORT LEAK
+++Maybe this has to do with the rescue of Daisy?+++

INVASIVE SPECIES OR BENEFICIAL? DEBATES ON METAHUMANITY
+++Maybe this has to do with a certain policlub?+++

She checks out each article.

The barrens reclamation project actually has nothing to do with Daisy - not even remotely. There's been a big push from various bigwigs to either gentrify, or bulldoze and rebuild, various barrens regions. The leaked report (genuine or otherwise) claims that they've run into all sorts of problems. The leaked document (assuming that it's genuine) tells a long, sad story about how everything is failing, the barrens are doomed, and frankly there's no hope of success.

The invasive species one has more to do with angry environmentalists describing metahumanity as a blight on the world. They're not getting a lot of traction, because there's a whole bunch of other arguable blights that people keep shouting about; insect spirits, for example.

The crystal church folks are spreading love and peace and kindness and tranquility in their own special way; mostly involving clothing distribution, apparently.

The enclave artistry one is about Seattle's purported claim to fame as "Music City" and an analysis of the fact that the vast majority of artists claimed by Seattle actually come from areas that are now not even part of the UCAS, and a long tradition of hostility to venues, busking and the like.

The contract renewal article may have some nearer relevance to Karmakaze's situation; it's for city and enclave contracts, including for Lone Star. There's apparently a serious push from some elements of the city government to aggressively renegotiate everything from performance figures to costs, putting Lone Star in a corner.

CONTRACT RENEWAL YEAR HERALDS TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS

Karma reads through the article a second time, looking for ties to the names and parties provided by Booker. Maybe this will finally link Polihumas to a party, group or individual politician or bureaucrat. Even if it doesn't help her cause, it may be worth something.

After some time she needs to look at something else.

CRYSTAL CHURCH CHARITY CREATES CHEER

+++Maybe there is some good in the world.+++

She doubts it after a few seconds. She does a little digging into the Crystal Church. Karma comes across a lot of loot. Maybe it can be donated here rather than discarded or fenced. If the church isn't some hidden nefarious front for policlubs, radicals or criminals.

Karmakaze thinks that the Crystal Church bunch are probably a weird sort of half-cult, half-pyramid thing, with scammers on top and dupes as their footsoldiers. That said, they're polishing their image until it gleams.

The culty bit seems to be that their churches operate as something between compounds and miniature almost-arcologies. People go in, and spend most of their time there doing ... nothing clear on the record.

As for the contract renewal thing, PoliDemos names don't come up - but their talking points do. One politician in particular, a fellow by the name of Grenville, loudly proclaims that Lone Star needs Seattle more than Seattle needs Lone Star, and that Seattle should go back to a government-run police structure. How the public feels about this is not recorded at present.

When Karmakaze met with Jaxx to pick up supplies, he also had one more thing: A job.

"""I might not be able to get you a passkey Karmalicious, but maybe doing a favor for a friend can knock off a few nu- if they come across one. This guy wants to know why exactly has MaChef's stock price been falling when they've been expanding? They're all over the entire region, and parking themselves in other regions too, and yet somehow, mysteriously, their stock price is at 30% of its peak.

""" He suspects that there's something funny about the finances, but he has no smoking gun. Nor even any clear non-smoking guns."""

"""Financial investigation is not really my forte, but I will see what I can do."""

Once all the learning and bonding and lodge-building are done, Blue sends a message to Karmakaze. He is almost down to his earlier level of paranoia, seeing as Big M. hasn't tried to kill him in the last three weeks.

<<<Hoy, KK. Finally done all my magic here. How are things with you? Got any lines on work? >>>

<<< While resupplying, Jaxx had a small job for us; Investigating MaChef's and their falling stock prices. I will do some legwork with my contacts, then we can meet up. Hopefully we don't need to farm out a decker or accountant. >>>

Jaxx contacts Karmakaze with a reference to a name: VGI. He wants to know, as nearly as possible, what list of clients they have, especially in the Seattle enclave.

Blue messages Karmakaze, <<< Done setting things up, restocking and studying. Wanna get together for a beer and talk over what's next? >>>

Karmakaze reached out to her contacts to see if they knew anything about MaChef's, their client list, or VGIs.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Bradshaw:

""".... that's a lotta legwork."""

No drek, that is what she was trying to do. """Okay. I am going to do some more digging. Later."""

She ended the call.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Lt. Booker:

"""Shit, I'm surprised they're still around. They've had a run of trouble. Started with the urban legends about their rice containing plastic (it didn't), carcinogens in their teriyaki sauce (kinda true, but it all kinda is), and then there were the vandals tossing grenades down their chimneys - and finally a bunch of people trying to get their automatic kitchens towed when they were fully approved. We gotta bunch of the vandals and tow truck artists arrested, and I never got to hear the real skinny behind it but the vandals were paid off, and given the explosives. I could try to look up where those cases went for you."""

"""Sounds like someone was trying to drive them out of business. Old business partner or competitive corp? How long ago were all these attacks?"""

. . .

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Badger:

"""...I'd have snapped their necks for MaChef coupons and called it a public service."""

"""How long ago was this, and did you get any coupons?"""

"""Whoo boy, high finance, huh?..."""

"""To be honest, I don't even know what a VGI or investus is. Is it a type of stock?"""

. . .

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Melinda:

"""... does the name 'Voltsev' mean anything to you?"""

"""No. Who or what is Voltsev?"""

. . .

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karmakaze didn't really know her way around the matrix, but she knew enough to do a little investigating. She found that MaChef's appeared to be an automated food truck service that has faced a lot of accusations of contaminated food due to all kinds of reasons ranging from purposeful to negligence. She did some further digging to see if she could find any court dates. The social media personal reviews were all dated, but court dates and police reports would be better.

According to the matrix (and Badger), VGIs are some sort of investment, but not sure of the legality. What is a VGI?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Karmakaze returns Blue's message <<< Meet you at the Stagger Inn in about an hour? >>>

<<<See you there.>>>

Blue gets a drive share ride to the inn. It feels a little weird to be so public. Mitsuhama still wears on his mind.

Karma return call with Bradshaw:

"""Well, I did some digging, and came up with the name Genady Voltsev"""

"""Rich old fragger. Never met him in person, but I know of him. Quiet, doesn't make waves, doesn't bring me business, but I keep finding his name, or his companies, owning chunks of wherever I'm headed."""

"""Does he have a piece of MaChef's? Or maybe a competing company?"""

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Booker:

"""...How long ago were all these attacks?"""

"""Over the last six months someone seemed to be running a harassment campaign against MaChef. It wasn't big enough for me to look into personally, but it appeared to be commercial competition."""

"""Can you get me in contact with the investigator that had the case?"""

. . .

On a return call:

"""Have you ever heard of Genday Voltsev?"""

"""Oh boy. He's not political. He doesn't make a social splash. He keeps to himself a lot, but he's one of the biggest names out there. He doesn't do majority ownership of nearly anything except his own trusts, but he owns a little bit of everything. I wouldn't care so much, but I get very interested when an old gangster gets rich. I'm sure he still knows a lot of very influential, very bad people up in Vladivostok."""

"""Do you know if he has stake in MaChef or a competitor?"""

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Badger gives similar details about the attacks on Machef as Lt. Booker had: Over the past 6 months. He then educated Karma on investus and VGI.

. . .

Karma return call with Badger:

"""Have you ever heard of Genday Voltsev? I heard he is an ex-gangster who now owns a piece of multiple businesses."""

"""Honestly? Nada. I mean, I know who he is. But he doesn't contract me, or anybody like me. I've never crossed paths with his people, and nobody has ever, ever asked me to go after him. I mean, I get the occasional contract on russkie gangsters, but never him."""

"""Anyone you would want to put me contact with?"""

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma in-call with Melinda:

"""...No. Who or what is Voltsev?"""

"""You have never heard of Genday Voltsev? He is an ex-Russian gangster, now successful businessman. As far as I know, he's turned over a new leaf and stayed on the straight and narrow. There are no court records implicating him in anything, if you don't count the establishment of a few corporate identities, all of which are above-board, and apparently investment-related. Mind you, if he ever pulls his money out of his holdings, the whole enclave will catch cold."""

"""Does he have any ties to MaChef or its competitors?"""

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Karma return call with Jaxx:

"""I have done a little digging and it seems like Genday Voltsev is some how linked. What do you know about him?"""

"""Karmaschwarma, he's a tricky one. Clean on the outside, but somehow things that he's involved in seem to end up giving me business. A lot of business. May be coincidence, may be not. But make no mistake; he's connected, very closely, with some very scary individuals. Also, most of 'em are human. Just so you know."""

"""Are you insinuating he has ties to a policlub? Maybe a certain one that has given me trouble this past couple weeks?"""

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

According to court documents, police records and news articles, Voltsev was arrested, tried and convicted of conspiracy to distribute chemical contraband. After spending five years in prison, he appears to have come out a reformed man; He went through probation, started a business a couple of years later - which ended up being a holding company for investments. It just grew from there. His address is listed as a very expensive, exclusive private pier on Lake Washington, but whether or not he actually resides there isn't clear.

She had much more research to do with each phone call.

Karma in call with Bradshaw:

Karma had asked about Volstev's possible financial connections to Machef's or their competitors. Bradshaw didn't have much more information, only suggesting to do further online searches.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in-call with Booker:

Karma had asked to get in touch with the investigator of the MaChef's vandalism.

"""I can put you in touch. Uh, you might remember the lead investigator, Detective Hogan. I'll give you his digits."""

"""Thanks, I know Hogan. I will get in touch with him soon."""

. . .

On a return call:

Karma had also asked Lt. Booker about Volstev's possible financial connections to Machef's or their competitors.

"""I don't know for a fact, but I do know that he owns at least a small stake in nearly any publicly-traded entity in Seattle, so the answer is most probably yes.

However, does he own enough of it to care very much if he has another reason for them to go down? Bear in mind that a stock holding can look like plausible deniability, and for a guy like him to lose twenty kiloyen as a sunk cost in a plan is nothing."""

While it was good information, it looked like Karma was basically being told to do some more matrix digging.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Badger:

She knew it was a stretch, but she asked if there was someone connected to Voltsev's criminal history he could connect her with.

"""Uh, you're gonna hafta be a lot more detailed here. What and how and why? These ain't nice folks."""

"""I figured so, but it doesn't hurt to ask."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in-call with Melinda:

Karma took another shot at tying Voltsev to MaChef's.

"""Whoo, that's a big one. Honestly? He might be involved, but I doubt it. Ever since he left prison, as far as I know he's kept himself cleaner than polished chrome. Of course, that's just as far as I know. As far as ties to MaChef? Probably no more nor less than any other of his web of investments. Even if he does, I doubt that it means much."""

"""Sounds like I am barking up the wrong tree. Thanks for the info."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Jaxx:

"""Not a chance, Karmalance. PoliDemos hates him, and people like him. I can tell you that for free without even giving them a call. To them, he's the thin end of every wedge."""

"""Well, I am starting to like this guy."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Online research leads mostly to a dead end on Voltsev's investments. Sure, she finds a few holding companies that everybody knows about, but after that the trail leads into a twisty maze of little spreadsheets, all similar.

Karmakaze doesn't find anything about Voltsev having direct ownership of any MaChef stock, and no visible links to its competitors, and no visible links to PoliDemos.

What about PoliDemos and MaChef's, though?

Voltsev's records are basic, standard public records with nothing fancy or exciting to them. Drug possession with intent to distribute, welcome to the Greybar Hotel. Clang.

He is a known past associate of the Vory. After his release from prison, they definitely paid him a wad of thank-you cash for keeping his mouth shut, taking the fall, and shielding his superiors. For most, that's just a ticket to a fast life and a messy death - or a fast slide back into Vory footsoldier status. For him, it was seed money for investment.

If Karma is going to get involved in this, she might also need to look into the Vory.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Hogan:

"""Detective Hogan, this is Kris Kahless. Lt. Booker told me you were lead in the MaChef's case. Can we meet to discuss the case? Maybe we can help each other."""

Karma in call with Bradshaw:

"""What can you tell me about the Voltsev's old org, the Vory?"""

"""Well, the Vory are the russian answer to the mafia. Dunno how much history you want, or care about, but their background basically goes to the bad old days of the USSR, and various people stuck in Siberia. 'swhy their homeland is Vladivostok, the capital, pretty much of Russia's eastern seaboard. Of course from there it's a hop, skip and jump to the Aleutians, and so they had plenty of play in the old USA, and later they kept those links through to the formation of the UCAS. They run their show with typical russian charm. A warm smile below cold fish eyes, the smell of cheap cologne and expensive vodka, powered by the kind of thugs who would discuss fetching a meter to figure out just how loud you screamed before they started shoving your foot into a blender. Nice folks. If you really, really wanna meet them, well, I can name a couple. But you didn't hear it from me, got it?"""

"""I don't think that will be necessary, but I will accept the offer anyway. I don't know where this investigation will take me...

... And you can trust me. I don't know where I got the name."""

. . .

"""Oh, one more thing came up. PoliDemos appears to be very supportive of MaChef's. Do you know why that is? Is the ownership tied to the policlub?"""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in-call with Booker:

"""One more thing; Do you got any information on the Vory?"""

"""The iron fist wearing through the velvet glove. The velvet is fake plush from a cheap old TriD set, and the iron is rusty soviet leftovers. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that they don't have a very effective code of silence - getting convictions on them is hell, because they would rather get a bullet from me than the kind of slow death that they'd get from their bosses. Subtle, they're not."""

"""Thanks. I have a lot to think about.

"""I got one more question: Do you know why PoliDemos appears to be so supportive of MaChef's? Is there a tie between ownership and the policlub?"""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in-call with Badger:

"""Do you know anything about the Vory?"""

"""Y'know, I'd rather run a snatch-and-grab on the Vory than on the Yaks. Not because the Vory are easy, but because they are more inclined to view their men as disposable. One got taken? Nul persp. He won't say drek. They'll just wait until he turns up dead, or turns up in prison, or gets turned out. They don't really hold it against me - much. The usual disclaimers apply, of course."""

"""I got another question about MaChef's: Do you know why PoliDemos appears to be so supportive? Is there a tie between ownership and the policlub?"""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Jaxx:

"""Well, I am starting to like this guy. What can you tell me about his old org, the Vory?"""

"""Y're starting to scare me here, Karmakraze. You don't see me asking where I can cuddle half-a-dozen black mambas, do you? I don't want to. See, I have a strict no-black-mambas policy in my bed. In fact, they can stay where they come from. Africa, right? Africa's lovely this time of year for the black mambas. I love that for them. They can be happy there, living laughing and loving. Assuming that laughter and loving are in their way of life, which I honestly don't know. I do know that I've never seen a Vory man laugh except one time, and that was a bad time for someone else."""

"""Don't worry. I don't plan on getting involved with them. However, I may be an unwitting ally. It seems PoliDemos is very supportive of MaChef's, while Voltsev and PoliDemos are not.

"""Do you know why PoliDemos appears to be so supportive? Is there a tie between ownership and the policlub?"""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Return call to Melinda:

"""Do I still got time to ask questions on my consultation?"""

. . .

"""Do you know why PoliDemos appears to be so supportive of MaChef's? Is there a tie between ownership and the policlub? Can you find out who is the controlling owner of MaChef's? How about PoliDemos? Something has to be reported for tax exemption reasons, no?"""

Karma in call with Bradshaw:

"""...Is the ownership tied to the policlub?"""

"""Huh, no drek? Whaddyaknow."""

"""I don't. I guess you don't either."""

Karma gets the contact information Bradshaw offered then ends the call with, """I would thank you for that, but I don't know where I got it."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Lt. Booker:

"""Oh yeah. That figures. Could be a tie, but I think that it's all a lot simpler: MaChef plays by the rules and provides a quality product. In other words, good citizens that play by the rules. PoliDemos loves that."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Badger:


"""Beats me. Maybe one of the PoliDemos high honchos gets her plumbing regularly cleaned by one of the MaChef maintainers."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Jaxx:

"""PoliDemos doesn't like Voltsev because he's the wrong kind of people for them. They'll never like the gangster stank - at least from anybody but themselves. MaChef don't have that problem. They pay their dues. In fact, I don't know this but if you wanna Karmawriggle your way into their accounts maybe you'll find MaChef is paying dues to PoliDemos to keep 'em sweet."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Karma in call with Melinda:

"""I doubt it. PoliDemos are sort of homegrown in the Green Lake, Shoreline areas. MaChef came from out of town, so their origins are different. Doesn't mean that they don't find common ground, but I don't think that there's an original link there."""


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


All of Karmakaze's contacts gave pretty much the same info on the ties between the policlub and MaChef's, which was nothing. It appears that there aren't any ties between them.

She ended each call with gratitude, along with a payment to Melinda for her hourly rate, and checking in on Daisy's well being with Lt. Booker.


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Karmakaze couldn't find any details on PoliDemos's leadership online. If you believe their matrix homepage, they are a bunch of beautiful humans who look like solid sararimen and glamorous homemakers working for a better, more democratic future. They even have a few TriDs to sell you one this.

MaChef's ownership is a classic franchise system. There's the original ownership structure which designs, updates and maintains the automated cooking and vending systems, and then there are franchise owners, who get one or more systems from the parent company, and then run, maintain, stock and place the cookers. Sometimes it's one slot running one machine - not a bad living if he finds good locations - and sometimes it's one guy with a dozen, and four maintainers working for him. In the big picture, MaChef has a strong reputation maintenance code, so that any franchise holder determined to be detrimental to the brand has a forced buy-back and loses his franchise. This is a consequence of some earlier scandals decades ago where franchise holders were found dealing drugs or BTLs or illegal gambling or otherwise being stupid. They play it clean. At least as far as lifestyle is concerned.


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Karma dials Det Hogan's link, which Lt. Booker had provided.

<<<Hey detective, this is Kahless. Can we meet to discuss the MaChef's case? I am looking into something that may tie into it.>>>

<<<Hogan here - oh, hi. Good to hear from you, investigator. Yeah, you wanna come to the office, or meet elsewhere? At the moment that file is... well, let's call it static but I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop so if you have anything good I'd love to hear it. When's good for you?>>>

<<<Office works, but elsewhere would be better. I can meet later today. Or if you have time now, I am meeting my partner at the Stagger Inn shortly.>>>

<<<I'll come by the Stagger. I won't be there immediately, got some things to wrap up, but I'll be there in under an hour. See you there.>>>

Blue arrives at the Stagger Inn early and decides to find a booth near the back. Back to the wall, view of the front door kind of thing. He lets the server know he is expecting at least one more guest and orders some nachos and a pitcher of beer. While waiting for the food and drink, he does a little survey, checking for exits and places to duck and hide.



Once the goods arrive, he waits for a quiet moment when no one might be looking, and flexes his newfound conjuring muscle. He is curious to see how well a Hearth Spirit here expresses the local ambience, as does Sweez back home.



The nachos are passable, the beer a bit weak. One of the things he misses about Toronto is the older, "Canadian" style beer still brewed there. A good kick for the buck.

<<<Okay. See you there.>>>

. . .


Karma arrives at the Stagger Inn, ten minutes behind schedule. She hated being late, and usually plans well ahead, but with multiple phone calls back and forth between contacts, time had gotten away. She should have given herself some more time and planned the meet for later in the day.

She spotted Blue shortly after arriving. He already had nachos and beer. Perfect.

"""Hoi,""" she said, as she slid into the seat and poured herself a beer.

Without delay, she got to biz.

"""Jaxx had a job for me. I was trying to check prices on passkeys, and maybe this favor might drop the cost. I did some digging, but not sure I have anything yet. I invited a detective here to discuss a case that might be applicable. I don't really know him, but Booker gave me his name, so it should be legit. I told him our investigations may overlap."""

"""Sounds good to me. Dig in and tell me what you have been researching.""" Blue takes a good slug of the beer. It might take another pitcher to get the night rolling.

The evening is just crawling in enough for Blue to take advantage of the night's comfort for summoning.

:::The spirit takes the form of a sort of shambling mound. Its base, on which it moves like a gastropod, looks like a microwave oven pizza while on top of that is a heap of smothered starch - nachos and fries all blended together and glued into unity with greasy cheese. It leaves an oozing trail of what looks like foamy beer, and has a snailshell of what appears to be a beer pitcher warped into a spiral.:::

The staff on the material side of the place are happy to let the dwarf and the elf chitchat away with no interference except serving additional calories on demand.

Karma explains the job to Blue after ordering another pitcher, but this time filled with a local amber ale, the whole reason for the meet location.

"""Like I said in the text, Jaxx has a "friend" who is looking at MaChef's finances and their falling stock prices. I talked to my contacts, and got a little here or there, but not much.

"""MaChef's has had a lot of trouble over the last 6 months. It seems their stores and food delivery trucks are being vandalized, destroyed and sabotaged. I assume this is costing them money to repair and lost revenue during repairs. That would definitely cause a drop in stock price, but I am not sure for a 70% drop in price, though rapid expansion could have also played a part.

"""Dropping the stock price might be the goal of the attacks, so who is behind the attacks?

"""The name Genady Voltsev came up, somehow attached to Virtual Garage Investech, which is invested in MaChefs.

"""Volstev is ex-Vory, Russian mobster, but to all accounts, appears to have gone straight, and has well diversified portfolio, and is not heavily invested in either MaChefs or its competitors, so I am still not sure why his name came up.

"""Our old friend's at PoliDemos are very supportive of MaChefs, and not very supportive of Voltsev, but that just seems to be based on their political views and not anything personal. MaChefs plays by the rules, the other is an excon. There doesn't appear to be any tie between them.

"""All that said, I don't think we have much. There has to be a connection in there somewhere, maybe talking it over with Detective Hogan will pull the right string."""

Blue scratches his head as he absorbs the info Karmakaze gives him. """Hmm. Am I missing something? It sounds like everybody linked to MacChef likes them, or at least has money in them. Why would any of those want to harm MacChef?"""

He takes a swig of the new beer. """Ah. Better."""

"""Exactly. Seems like everyone likes MaChefs. Hopefully Hogan will have some leads."""

On cue, Detective Hogan entered the establishment. He was easy to spot, but not because Karmakaze recognized his face. It was the detective's uniform: Inexpensive suit, loose tie, long rain coat, and most damming of all, the mustache.

He should recognize Karmakaze; There weren't any other elves in the bar. She stood anyways and waved him over.

Hogan smiles at Karmakaze as if he recognises her. He probably does; he was in the job when she was still corporate, and detectives tend to have good memories. He also nods affably at Blue as he makes his way over to the table.

"""Good evening. How you doing? Room for another?"""

He slides onto a seat and offers Blue a hand to shake. """Name's Hogan, I work for the 'star as a detective. Pleased to meet you."""

Blue returns the handshake solidly. """Call me Blue. The place is comfortable and the goods are passable. Have some beer and munchies. """ He looks at Karmakaze and indicates he is happy to have her take the lead in the discussion.

Karma runs Hogan through her research, as she had just previously done for Blue a few minutes before.

"""It seems like no one really dislikes MaChef's. They don't really have a competitor, they don't affect local businesses, and the local hate groups actually like them.

"""My partner and I were hoping you might have a suspect we could do some digging into, or maybe some of what we told you sparks your own investigation."""

"""Hm. I don't think that's quite right. They have competition, just not direct competition. There are other street food options, just all less automated. It's kind of a crowded market, if you include every fried drek stand and food van. It's just tough to undercut a short order cook, even with high quality robotics."""

He grabs a mug and fills it from the pitcher. A long, grateful slurp. Evidently, it's been a long day.

"""Do you have any suspects; Groups or individuals? Has any businesses moved into areas previously dominated by MaChefs?"""

"""Tough to say. You see, every time a stand goes up in flames, the crowded market flows in from every direction. Most of the time it's peaceful; the pipe slinger on the opposite corner from the fried roach man."""

It's obvious how much time Hogan has spent on the streets. Pipe slinger is local slang for a hotdog stand, and fried roach means fried rice.

"""Occasionally they get a knife fight over something stupid, but no more than anybody else, and usually less because they're there for business, not ego. Having said that, I do have some leads. It just wasn't worth following them all the way. The actual vandals weren't other merchants, but street level gangsters. The common factor, once the truth came out, was that they generally liked MaChef because it was cheap calories, but somebody'd paid them off to do the hits. At first I thought that it was a protection racket turned ugly, but I got independent confirmation that an outside party was slipping the street meat some cash, or other goodies, to do the dirty work. So there's definitely someone with disposable income willing to pay someone else to do the dirty work. Who? That's where the investigation bogged down, because it was all done through middlemen, most of whom probably didn't know or care who the original source of the funds was. The common factor was that the target was MaChef, and that someone somewhere wants them out of business, or out of this market at least. Why? That's anybody's guess. I have an idea of my own, but it's a hunch; I think that the problem that somebody has is that because MaChef is based around a franchise model, someone wants the franchise-holders to put their money elsewhere. The parent company is making too much money overseas to be wiped out by a street war over here, and the targets aren't limited to one franchisee, you see? It's all local, market-based reputation and equipment destruction, but it's all MaChef, not one operator or every franchise."""

"""Any indication which street thugs were involved? Maybe we can ask more pointed questions than the police can, or come up with different incentives.""" Blue takes a good, long swig of beer.