"Nothing wrong with running. And frag the fun house and the lizard. After her committee blew us up you owe her absolutely nothing."

Bobby commented. "Invite friends and enjoy the party. No need for bulldrek politics. Don't try to hide the fact either. Own your decision - this is for you and you alone. If Urubia feels bad about not getting an invite her draconic intellect certainly won't have a problem discerning that bombing you and yours wasn't the best way to make you stay."

Fueled by the burrito, Mato pushes himself into an upright position. He swings his legs around. Should he really be getting out of bed? No, probably not, but he figures Bobby will catch him.

"Look, this hotel is ¥500/night. Bust me outta here."

He stands, his green patient's gown only covering half of his hoop. His legs, being cybernetic, hold up just fine; it's his core muscles that seem sleepy from the bed rest. He tilts over forward at a 15-degree angle before he reaches out and steadies himself. He dresses a little shakily but manages to get his legs into some jeans and his old armored jacket.

"What happened to my Globetrotter outfit?"

Blasted to smithereens. Doc had to cut them off.

He shrugs at the loss. "I'm still alive. I should contact Ares, see if I can get a marketing deal out of it."

Mato is wobbling toward the door. Doc Painless, with a sixth sense for patients trying to leave without paying, steps into the doorway.

"¥2000," she demands. "And that's the 'friend' rate because you're going to get the rest of your work done here. Don't you dare tell anyone else about it!" She gives the rest of you a death stare, lest you mutter it to one of the local gangs who are now rich enough to be soaked on medical care. "And those ears are loaners! You need to bring those back!"

Mato nods. "Yes, yes, here you go." He transfers the funds and Doc Painless swings out of the doorway like a jail cell door opening.

He limps through the lobby then exits to the street, where there is still a good deal of Matrix mayhem.

"What the hell is happened out here?" he asks no one in particular.

"OK, to make it feel like a party there should be more guests than there are us. Call it 6-10 invites. That is more than we can seat around our table, so it will have to be buffet style. We might not have enough chairs for everyone to sit at once, but we'll manage. We just make sure that Mato has a spot to sit." He does some quick budgeting in his head, blanches a bit at the number he comes up with, them braces himself to spend it anyway. He does discard a couple of the more extravagant options that he'd been considering.

"I think I'll confine the real food to fresh fruit and vegetables. Expensive enough getting those at this time of year, but the vitamins will be good. A few different options on other food. Then booze -- a good base of cheap beer for those who just want to keep drinking, a bit of better stuff for those who want to savour something, and a bit of spirits. Any of you know anything about wine? For good beer maybe we can get a bit of that stuff that Huge was drinking? It was good."

"Guest list, well Cutty and Waylon again for sure. I'll twist Zwipe's arm to risk associating with us and come. I guess asking Huge might a bit too much, eh? Andrew wouldn't be appropriate. Five-Finger Gao and his wife? No, they are suppliers, not real business contacts. That Brent kid that the rest of you saved when I was away, think he'd be interested?" He has to stop talking to himself for a moment as he dodges two delivery drones that would appear to be involved in a mating dance, or something.

Then he messages AM <<Our invite list is pretty devoid of women. I have one contact who might come, if she's willing to risk the flak from her bosses, but that's about it. You put up with a lot from the rest of us, got any friends you'd like to invite? Or women from the gym who seem nice who you'd like to know better?>>

She responds >>I can invite Fenghuang, we grew close when I was creating Trouble. I have another friend I can bring, but aside from her, I mostly keep a low profile at the gym. Mainly teenagers and these have the body of an adult and the emotional control of a toddler. Not the age I like the most. "

Bobby answered Mato: "You slept through some kind of matrix anniversary. Stupidest drek, really. All hackers and script kiddies went wild. AM kept us out of the worst - except for the soycaf machine. It's rude now but makes better caf, so all in all it's a net positive."

Thinking a moment about who to invite, he said:
"I think I'll ask Lysander to come. More business than friend, but it certainly won't hurt the professional relationship.
Inviting our hacker club might be a bad idea - they owe us money and we have to keep the social dynamic intact."

"What the frag hell," Mato mutters under his breath as someone walks by, swinging at invisible ghosts. The man in question is known to have cybereyes and it's clear that these are now projecting AR images to him of things that aren't actually there. He staggers by flailing at something like a zombie scratching at thin air.

"I'll invite the Doc," Mato says once the man has passed. "I owe her money so I need to keep that social dynamic complicated." He shoots a comic wink at Bobby.

"Plus, she's seen me naked, so it seems only fair. Although if we invited everyone who has seen Bobby naked we'd go broke, ha!"

You make your way back to SIS HQ, where the soykaf machine has a latte waiting for you with a picture of a hairy butt etched into the foam. "That one's for me!" Mato declares. He sips and his eyebrows shoot up. "Good little sprite," he says, petting the machine affectionately. The machine seems to beep in response.

"Ok, Cutty, Wylon, Fenghuang, the Doc, Lysander, Zwipe, Adeline, that makes seven guests, if they all come. I'm thinking Friday night? Give Mato a couple more days of recovery, me enough time to get stuff without being in a mad rush, and hey, it's the weekend for the one or two of the invitees whose schedule cares about that. I'll send out invites, and think about if there is anyone else."

And that he does.

" and Kira" she comments indicating that she'll invite her decker friend according to her current name which might become a permanent name if she could stay retired and not be lured back into this world of easy money and adrenaline.

As they arrive, she goes to her room and quickly changes, she'll run to Cutty and then continue working out. Initially, it was to worship and then to get stronger but at the moment it is just one of the anchors keeping her going when the realities around her become increasingly scary.

"And I'll call Razak. Not to invite the captain. But we have to think about recruiting and the captain was the one who got me this job in the first place. Maybe he has another candidate from our side that would be interested to join."

Bobby spoke matter of factly as if Jawsey's going away didn't pain him to the core.

The calls and invitations go out.

Cutty - accepts
Waylon - immediately accepts and asks if he can help with prep work
Fenghuang - accepts
Doc Painless - accepts
Lysander - tentatively accepts, as Friday nights are working hours in the info biz
Zwipe - declines, and is still afraid of being seen in Touristville
Adeline - accepts
Kira - accepts

"Well, looks like we'll have a full house. I'll go and organize a few more chairs." Bobby took off - not towards a store, but a few abandoned places that he knew had some furniture left. True, the chairs would be missmatched and be in need of cleaning, but he didn't like the idea of buying gear just to throw it out afterwards - want not waste not.

Mato makes it home, manages a shower, and then slumps into bed. His soykaf with a hairy butt on it keeps him awake long enough for him to place some commcalls.

"Doc says if I'm going to get something done to do it sooner than later. If I'm already busted up, no sense in waiting for me to heal to bust me up again to put something new in."

He gets off the comm with Brad Burns from Pike Hall.

"I think I have a lead on some better reaction enhancers via Burns and Cunningham. Oh, and it turns out that Chan Wu wants to spar again next time she's in the city."

Mato does not look like he's up for any sparring at the moment.

"I need new ears too, since these are loaners. I already had the dampers so swapping those out for new ears isn't that big of a hit to my system. You can get some fancy stuff in there. Not just the usual audio enhancers, but also an improved hearing spectrum, like a dog." A sideways glance at Bobby. "Or even automatic translators, since we're losing our resident polyglot." A sideways glance at Jawsey.

The work keeps him distracted from the lack of effective painkillers in his system. Eventually the caffeine from the soykaf wears off and he falls back asleep for an hour and a half.

Having worked on reaction time, agility and strength the young woman returns home satisfied and heads straight to the shower feeling uncomfortable showering at the gym. She feels satisfied with her small progress and would spend the next hours researching self-sustaining spells and trying to figure out how they would work.

"Ultrasound is fragging annoying to be honest. Get some kind of filter software, because this city is incredibly loud and filled with more ultrasound sensors than you'd imagine." Bobby mumbled while he studiously scrubbed down the three chairs he had rescued. Stainless steel with a lot of suspicious stains on them. Bobby was pretty certain that the thugs who had brougth them to the warehouse used them for interrogations. But a lot of strong cleaning fluid and the wirebrush made quick work with that.

"I'll take a nap too once I'm done here. Wake me if you need help in the kitchen."

That Zwipe couldn't make it was a disappointment. He'd been the closest thing to a friend Jawsey had made during his early months back in Seattle, when he'd trying to make a living on his own as an investigator. He missed the casual banter that they'd had, the bilingual and even trilingual word play. And Jawsey had gotten SIS to extend itself on behalf of Zwipe and his gang.

But after a moment of brooding, he shrugged it off. He was the one leaving the city. If he stayed, sooner or later they would likely have reconnected, but he wasn't. So really it was he who was walking out on whatever bond they'd had, and he'd just wanted Zwipe to come and wish him well and assure him that it was OK.

Kind of like he wanted from everyone else.

He let himself brood a bit more, sure his aura was all sorts of ugly. Then he straightened his shoulders, told himself Yes, I'm walking out on people, because it is the only way to go back and help the people who were there for me when I was younger. Why one over the other? Because there is more glory in it. Because I'm scared of Urubia. Because I want to. Own it, move on.

He headed off to shop with his aura clear and his back only twinging a bit.

Part way there he suddenly realized something, and fired a message to the team <<Do any of you have meal requests? We've eaten so much survival food that I don't even know what you all actually like?>>

>> I have a soft spot for ice cream.

Mato thinks about what he used to eat when he was young. Budgets were bigger because his parents were corpers.

<<I grew up eating buffalo, venison, wild boars. We're orks so it was all about big flavors. Spice, lots of spice. Rich sauces. Lots of kilojoules.>>

Mato's first instinct is to go hunting but he's in no condition to do so.

<<Bobby, can you hunt?>>

This, of course, is a ridiculous question. But Mato figures that it would be more polite to ask than tell, to give Bobby an soft pitch to knock out of the park.

<<I know the recipes but some of the techniques are more theory than practice. If Bobby can land me something, I can lend a cyberhand to roast it.>>

Bobby replied: <<Hunting isn't the problem. If you want I can bring down an elk for you. Finding a healthy animal with no tumors or latent poisons inside is the hard part. But yes, I can certainly bring you a boar or deer - just need someone to pick the carcass up afterwards.

Personally, I am a great fan of fresh fruit and vegetables - apple pie, tomato salad and fresh, whole grain bread without sugar but with sourdough.
Nothing like fresh bread with a bit of real butter.
I know a place where I can obtain the ingredients. Trouble would be helpful to have around for communication.>>

Thinking about favorite foods, Jawsey's thoughts go to mussels. Puget Sound grows quite good ones, but they sell for a price that has let him only taste a few here and there.

<<I wasn't planning on buying much meat, just too expensive. If Bobby can actually hunt something and bring it back I guess we should be able to find someone to butcher it? Although I think at least with beef they age stuff for a while for best results? But at the least we can manage some richer sauces on the proteins, good bread, some vegetables, and even ice cream.>> All of those things are expensive to buy as real food, but for the price of a pound of hamburger he can get a couple of cartons of ice cream or a couple of heads of off-season broccoli.

A quick bit of research finds a well rated bakery in Bellevue and he reserves a loaf each of their white, whole wheat, and rye breads, all sourdoughs. Hopefully they'll measure up to Bobby's memories.

Lentils are not as cheap as soy, but he likes them better, and they mostly come from the AMC, so at least from another NAN state. Why they grow so many lentils he has no idea. He does splurge for some supposedly Elk sausage and plans to add those into the spicy lentil dish for extra depth of flavour.

Vegetables end up being harder. Something or other was going on in CalFree State, hitting their vegetable crops. Jawsey didn't really pay attention to the details, it was always something with that place but they still seemed pretty stuck up about being Californian. But he was able to get a variety of green leafy things grown in some of the agri-complexes in Snohomihsh, along with some reasonably well preserved carrots and squash. He just sucks it up and pays the ridiculous price for Californian green beans.

Local apples can still be had, a bit expensive from the long storage but still with some crunch left in them. He gets enough for a couple of pies, and some left over to cut up and pass aorund as apple slices.

Eventually he has the ingredients gathered and recipes ready, and there is nothing to do but go to sleep early Thursday night to make Friday come sooner.

Bobby nodded to AM: "I'll go hunting now. Please send Trouble with me and be ready to fetch me and the prey once I've brought it down. I'll try my luck north of Snohomish - it's the least polluted area around and there are plenty of wild animals there that are drawn in by the factory farms."

Bobby once again disrobed and opened the window, that done, he turned into a seagul and took off.

AM does not magically order Trouble to come, but the young spirit happily accompanies Bobby. As for her, she continues the days studying her lore, submerged into the matrix with obscure sorcery articles, and universal magic articles. All in all, being a sorcerer and keeping things progressing seems to keep her occupied even when jobs are sparse. Studying keeps her emotions at bay - because Jawsey leaves a good gap in SIS that she would try to fill up.

Bobby took flight. He had decided to go for boar or deer - which ever he could find first. And he pretty much knew where he could always find some healthy animals: At the private hunting grounds of Ares Executive Solutions, where their top execs unwound from a hard day in the office where they weren't allowed to just shoot their underlings - by shooting some unrelated critters instead. Shooting fish in a barrel would likely have been equally satisfying for this bunch as there were dedicated wind and weather protected seats where the guests could be sure that a herd would be driven past by the attendants.

It was not without danger to watch these "hunts" as some of the guests where so hilariously bad at shooting, that the only safe place was squarely in front of their guns - and some of the bastards were mean enough to shoot at any animal that they happened to see around them, no matter if bird or mole.

But it wasn't the weekend yet, so Bobby expected very little traffic at this particular resort.
So Bobby took the time to transform into a less visible bussard. That also had the advantage of giving him an enhanced perception of smell - usually used to dectect carrion but occasionally also useful to find a little fawn.

For the actual hunt, he would take on the form of a mountain lion. Those would be normally kept out with an electric fence, but the great cats where occasionally quite adapt at circumventing the protections. That invariably alerted the game keepers, but Bobby knew their reaction time was usually at around 20 minutes before they got kitted out and in their little electric buggies. More than enough time to bag his prey and get out.

Bobby slowly circled around the fenced area, searching for where one of the larger herds lay low during the day.

Bobby finds black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and even some elk. The catch with all of these is that the herds are all actively being watched by multiple drones. Could he bring one down? Certainly, but he's also certain that security would be immediately alerted.

He also finds ponds full of ducks and coot, which are like ducks but with the beaks and feet of chickens. These ponds are far-less monitored, presumably because the birds can just fly away whenever they want. Bobby feels like they must be incentivized to stay somehow, but from his spot in the sky he can't say how.

There aren't that many hunters out today. One is a bow hunter, good for him. Others are carrying weapons that are distinctly ill-suited for hunting. One is carrying an Ares HVAR, which is spray-and-pray at its best (or worst). Another has an Ares Redline laser pistol (!) which is ridiculous in the other direction.

Bobby considered the situation. Drones would be alerted if a deer got attacked by a wild animal. But they certainly weren't picky about rats. And the dog brains also weren't the best at recognizing obvious imposible things like magic.

The trick therefore was easy. Bobby looked for a particularly tasty looking specimen, meanwhile transforming into a falcon. Once he had spotted his intended prey - a nice two year old deer, currently dozing in high grass - he transformed it into a shrew.
After that it was a simple exercise of diving, catching the disoriented rodent and gaining height before any wannabe hunter could get any bad ideas about shooting at birds of prey.
The squirming rodent didn't like the experience and Bobby had to take great care not to kill it, thereby transforming it back to its previous form.
On the plus side, he would be able to deliver very fresh meet indeed.

Bobby zips down from on high. In the blink of an eye the deer is transformed into a shrew and snatched away from its nap.

Bobby is too quick for the drones, but they are not so sleepy as he imagined. He's only made it 100 meters before the drones are alert and studying the situation. Only a few seconds after that, a spirit arrives on the astral to investigate the matter. The spirit appears somewhat annoyed at its task, but the trace of spellcasting will be obvious to such an investigator. Bobby feels that it would be prudent to dive into the treeline to break line-of-sight or to take some other evasive maneuver.

Bobby had not expected spirit support - but then he had been poking around here a few times already. Only reasonable to expect them to up their game.

Luckily, he had chosen a very speedy form. He immediately took off to break line of sight. It probably wouldn't have worked if at that moment the herd below hadn't become thoroughly spooked and began running away in a haze of animal fear, distracting the newly arrived spirit for just a few crucial moments.

Once Bobby was out of sight, he made a beeline for the fence and for the outside of the AES area. The squirming shrew didn't enjoy the ride at all and Bobby could feel its wee little heart beating like a miniature jackhammer.

Calling on Trouble he said through the astral: 'Please tell AM that I need to be picked up at the Snohomish River crossing of the 522 - don't know how long I can keep the deer alive in that form. And I don't think you want to transport it in your materialized form all the way home.'

When AM relays what Bobby asked of Trouble, Jawsey happily stopped chopping to go and meddle. Maybe he shouldn't, but truth be told he welcomes the chance to blow off some tension. He grabs his focus from the corner of the kitchen, goes into the living room then slumps securely in one of the chairs. He was about to fly off immediately, then decides that it is worth doing this properly. First a spirit, then an astral armor spell, THEN go meddle.



In a moment he's out of his body and heading east, glad that before Bobby had headed off they'd discussed where he was going.

Once there he scans the astral from on high, constantly on the move, criss-crossing the compound, so that at a passing spiritual glance he may be assumed to be passing by.



It takes a couple of minutes, as the compound is large, but the spirit isn't hiding and shows up so much more brightly than anything else that it wasn't hard, just a bit slow. Upon spotting the spirit continues to travel, while using his second service to tell his spirit "travel to near the spirit below, look for Bobby's spell signature (he provides a feel for what Bobby's spell signature is like) and erase it, letting nothing distract you from this task until you are done, at which time you may depart."

He judges travel time and after a few seconds he turns and streaks back towards the spirit, sword dramatically brandished. He speeds towards it and gives a mighty slash ... that is carefully aimed to miss, while doing his best to give the impression that he was intending to slay the spirit



The spirit flinches and moves to avoid attack, while no doubt passing on the information that it is under attack. Jawsey figures that any counter atack will be at least a few seconds so he feints another attack, then goes on full defense to hopefully avoid any counter-attack. He has a hard time not letting too much joy show, he hasn't gone spirit baiting like this in years and he'd forgotten how alive it feels to run the risk of combat without the guilt of painfully disrupting a spirit. Maybe he'll earn a new foe from this today, but he'll be far away in a few days so he's willing to run the risk.

Now it is just a matter of maintaining the illusion of combat for another dozen or so seconds while his spirit finishes its job, so that Jawsey can then head off towards Glow City and then on to some of his memorized high background count locations around Touristville. As he he dodges and feints and fakes, he uses the speed of astral combat to travel back toward the trees, aiming to break the line of site to his spirit such that if reinforcements arrive for this spirit, they'll not notice the cleansing going on in time.

AM grins at the signs of her Totem's attention, and sighs as they invited mischief again into their life. "Some people cannot help themselves, not everyone hides." She concludes She stoicly gets to the Ford and begin driving to pick Bobby up. Normally she would swear, but this time she feels more aware of the spiderweb.

Trouble follows, and suggests his movement power to speed up the escape. He finds the act of hunting to be natural but too practical and to the point whereas he'd prefer a chase. Yet a chade they get so the cat spirit is very saidfied.

Bobby zips into the trees, slaloming back and forth at high speed. Kind of exhilarating, kind of fun.

The spirit chases after him but has trouble tracking Bobby's aura through the thick trees. The spirit looks like it is about to go study the signature for Bobby's spellcasting when Jawsey arrives to distract it. The spirit quickly backpedals from Jawsey's ferocious charge, the weapon focus fully selling the threat. The spirit looks competent in a fight, but also doesn't look inclined to press the matter unless Jawsey assaults it for real.

After getting in the car, AM has about a 20 minute drive to rendezvous with Bobby. When she arrives, she notes that the shrew is emitting a wireless signal of some sort. An investigation will reveal that it has been tagged and that its previous owners might have a sense of where it is now.

She parks out of the way trying not to draw unwanted attention."Bobby there is a wireless tag that we need to ditch before we take our prize." Lets find it and zend it in another direction. She orders Trouble to get a small animal to take the tag and run away with using the animal control power.

Bobby frowned in his bird form. No wonder the shrew was so agitated - in this form the tag had to be digging fiercly into the small animals flesh. Bobby dropped into his normal form, while keeping the shrew in his fingers. Very carefully, he examined the animal. The tag had been implanted in the left ear - and now was almost too large for the poor animal. It was time to end its suffering. With a twist, he broke the animals neck and the deer returned automatically to its original form. Finding the tag again, took another few seconds, after which Bobby triumphantly pulled out the little wire needle with it's peppercorn sized head from the animal's slender ear, handing it to AM.

"I'm good to go, we can dress the carcass somewhere else." He hefted the body and put it in the trunk, making sure to use one of the tarps to keep the car clean.

After several seconds of pretend combat on his side, it is clear that the spirit has not received orders to engage. Jawsey fills the last needed seconds of distraction by backing off, saluting the spirit with his focus, giving an elaborate bow, and leaving in a showy spiral when his own spirit has finished its task.

AM is too dolled up to carry a bloodied caracas but levitating is fine."Trunk" she comments as she opens the trunk. Trouble uses hos powers to make a squrail pick up the tag and run away with it. He then rubs AM's leg in a possesive gesture.

Out goes the tracking tag and off into the forest with the squirrel that Trouble bamboozled.

Jawsey returns home, his diversion complete. The summoned spirit has scrubbed Bobby's signature.

AM levitates the deceased buck into the trunk. It weighs somewhere between 65 and 70 kilos.

You drive back to Redmond, although the question comes up: where exactly are you going to process the carcass? You'll end up with a lot of bones and internal organs which are probably inedible, even by Mato's standards.

Bobby, reunited with his pants adressed the issue: <<Thanks for the help. Seems like the resort increased their security since I was last there. Greedy bastards.
I'll take care of the dressing. I can rig something up in the garage. The offal will make a nice offering for the local coyotes.>>

Surival: 10d6t5 4

Once they were back, Bobby began to set up - a large plastic tarp and a surival knife as well as a heap of zeolite.

"I need to look into curing leather - would be a shame to let the hide go to waste." Bobby mumbled to himself while working.

About half an hour later, Bobby stepped out of the garage, his hands bloody up the ellbows, carrying a large plastic bag that was already forming a blood drip at its lower edge.

>>I would help, the Trickster would be amused.. Once they get home, AM quickly changes to her oldest, and perhaps most expandable clothes to help prep the carcass. She has rudimentary knowledge of surviving in the fields, her father sure tried to teach her - but despite everything, she was more of an indoors person. Yet, the Trickster does not like definitions and limitations and each weakness is just a hook for him to exploit. Thus, the tomboyish girl shows up in her worst attire and mischievously grins at Bobby "Teach me" she says assertively. Uncharacteristic to her, and despite her natural inclination she is there to help cut and prepare the meat.

Then she comments "I think you should, self-cured leather should have high strength and low resistance. Would make a good focus, or even a Homunculus if you feel like want some additional security. Imagine having a belt that you can command, or even a stuffed doll that can open the mail for us. " Her mind races to imagine the possibilities sorcery can offer.

"Actually, I was thinking about a pair of leggings that would transform with me, if I made them a focus or an attuned item. It certainly would be a good item to improve my respectability. Maybe even a pair of mocassins if I'm careful with the leather."

Bobby smiled: "It's funny to think about this - my father always went on about how important it was to learn all the skills our people had posessed. And I didn't really care. Only when I went into the army, I actually had to learn about all the surival skills - including creating gear from scratch. Now I'm part of a semi respectable firm with a regular income - and this is the time I actually start taking this drek serious.

Funny how everything turns out."

Oh, if you can change shapes without being so naked it would make life easier. Had no idea that focuses transform with you.

when Bobby mentions his father she comments "My father is just like that, trying to be as self-reliant as he can. He was never around much-- had a real family to look up for. Mommy was all for computers. So I did not pick up much survival. I did learn how to shoot a gun and drive cars. Daddy felt like it was his responsibility to teach me these things. Perhaps he got it in the army, he did not speak much about his life but I researched him. He spent ten years in service.

Pausing she comments "It is strange that you take it seriously now - you seem to have more money than you know what to do with. I mean, you bailed me out instead of buying some fancy focus or a car or whatever. It says a lot. "

"I read about it in a case study about vampires. When they turn into mist, they take bound foci with them. Stands to reason that it works for all transformations."

Bobby continued:
"My father is a war shaman - very outspoken about tradition and correct way of life. The only exception he made in his ideology, was for my mother. Just shows you that base instincts trump morality fantasies again and again. He was proud of me when I developed my magic, though he likely hoped I'd be a full mage like him. He was a lot less proud when I was dismissed from the SDF - and downright terrified when he found out what my totem was. He hasn't disowned me, but I'm no longer welcome to learn from him. Spiritual contagion and corrupting influence. Protecting his family from me...

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Forget I mentioned it."

Bobby worked silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was firm again.


"Nah, I know exactly the worth of my money. What I did was an investment. The dividents aren't coming out of your pocket - it's coming out of the work you can do when you don't have to worry about your loanshark - and the ability to upgrade your gear. I'd say it already paid off in part.
Even the fanciest focus couldn't hack a camera. My payout might be a bit delayed, but for me it makes sense to keep our business running. I just wished, I could have done something for Jawsey to make him stay.

Damn. Handling those guts is making me morose. Let's finish this up. I need to research how to best cure this leather."

She works in silence and does not pursue the issue when she thinks Bobby has overshared. Familial relations are often a minefield, especially her own. "You know, the SDF seems to still have its claws in SIS. I'd imagine they still make use of your skills if it is of any comfort."

When he mentions Jawsey she sighs "He is running away Bobby. He says he is going for his people which is admirable but he is also terrified of Urubia's attention. I am not sure we'll see him back here anytime soon. He has not been the same after the Funhouse." She sighs "... and your investment seems even more speculative given Mato and Jawsey. Would Mato stay with us now that he is rich? I can hack cameras but how long would SIS be here."

Bobby sighed: "Yeah, I'm still owing Razak for his support. But I don't mind - he generally plays fair with his assets and knows exactly how to use them."

"Mato isn't rich yet - and with his transhumanism obsession, I doubt he will be any time soon. Though who knows with trauma. Some guys would start investing in derma plating, titanium bones and other enhancements to feel save again. Others get scared and learn how to rig anthro drones instead, hiding from the world. I hope Mato is the former type.
As for Jawsey: Maybe. His experiences left a mark on how he deals with things. He never was the larger, stronger force in a given conflict. So he developed his strategies to survive. Can't blame him for taking the flight option when fight would be suicidal. I actually learned a lot from him and by extension from you as well. A year ago I wouldn't have backed down from any kind of fight - even if it was clearly stupid to do so. I got over that superhuman complex because I had to consider more than myself in a given situation. If Jawsey actually goes to help his people, he will have to lean in the other direction as well - fight instead of run when his people are on the line.

Anyway, I asked Razak if he knew someone that would be suitable to replace Jawsey and he promised me to get back to us. So we'll likely have to conduct some job interviews in the near future."

"It is good that you contacted Razak, we'll need new blood in here. Yet, I am a bit skeptical that anyone could replace Jawsey's silver tongue and limitless potential with magic. The man moved from barely using magic to almost my equal in only a few months. Within a year our roles would have been reversed. " She sighs "Perhaps some people aspire for bigger things than survival, which makes them bad assets even if they are the most talented."


AM comments "I don't know about Mato. I'd be very confused if someone offered to support me indefinitely for supposed blood relations or anything. In my case, I cannot be normal - but without the attention of the Trickster, I'd probably be somebodies wife, raising kids and managing a household. The entire story is a bit too fairytales and rainbows - I mean
I fantasized about such a deus ex-machina as a child. That my father is like a king or a prince and that he'll save us from poverty. To see such a story actually happening makes me very paranoid that higher powers with obscure ends and very elaborate plans are messing with us. I mean, what are the chances of actually having a rich dad that cares about you."

"In our circles? About one in four it appears. Don't worry - you can have that kind of life. You are still young. Though getting taken care off is overrated in my opinion. Too many conditions and dependencies. Freedom is a priviledge and a duty. Materialism will never satisfy - because there is always more to want.

But that's probably just me talking because I can turn into an eagle and soar high in the sky for a whole day. Brings things in perspective."

Bobby finished cleaning up and filling the ofal bag.

"Alright, time to cut it up and get the stuff freezer ready."

She grins. "One in four, heh? We're snowflakes Bobby - all of us." she comments. Then adds "It is not materialism per se, but the more stuff you have the better you live. Think about the bullies we live with, from murder clowns to anarchist bomb makers, violent trogs with a strange fashion sense, organized crime, and not one but two dragons playing this hood like a chess game. This is not an environment where people normally grow very old, this is the place where you die young from a driveby or from insulting the wrong person.

The kids at Bellevue have it better, the police protect them. Their food is healthier, and if they are rich enough they don't even have to grow old when their perfect life prolonged. They can do these therapies that radically extend life, and get a second adulthood period, then a third, and who knows if technology continues to progress perhaps they can live forever. We live in an extremely materialistic world, where money lets you cheat even death.

I mean, if you want to sleep on the floor and eat lentils your entire life it is okay, but you still need a trust fund to stay safe, healthy, and young. Why do you think that shape-changing changes this for you? "

Work-related, she is happy to move the meat chunks to the kitchen for finer chopping and making steaks, stew, and other chunks whereas the others she plans to grind to make burgers. Figuring out it would be terrible to waste edible meat when most of their nutrition is crap. Having all that said, the thought of actually eating meat is a bit alien - she was a vegetarian most of her life - not by choice but the meat was a luxury they never afforded. Now there is like a ton of it, enough for all their guest to feast and take home the remains. The situation seems a bit unreal as if it happens in a movie to someone else.

When Jawsey realizes how much meat they have he just stops for few minutes, thinking. Finally he says "Thank you, Bobby, and AM for helping with it. Such a fortune in food is kind of overwhelming. I'm not sure my cooking skills are really going to do full credit to this, but I'll do my best ... but no way do we cook anywhere near all of it today. I guess freeze some of it, and hope that electricity holds out until you eat it. Then give some to Cutty, he probably needs more meat and he's been a good friend. Heck, wouldn't surprise me if he knew what to smoke it or make sausages or whatever it is you should do with a deer." A bit more thinking, then "Huh, I can't think of a bit of magic to help with this. I guess that is a good thing about cooking, it really does ground you."

He looked around the kitchen, maybe hoping for inspiration, then said "I'll look up recipes, I'm really not sure what best to do with fresh game. And I guess go buy whatever ingredients fresh game calls for. And get a grinder, to grind up some of the less desirable cuts, and then use that for something like chili or dirty rice. Maybe one of you could provide some of that to the pizza kids, and maybe, find another name for them -- I kept thinking that 'soon' I'd have enough of their trust to ask for names, but I never quite got there. Wishing you better luck with that. Oh, and I used to track them down astrally, maybe Trouble could help with that? Or you could make some other arrangement?"

All you really need to dress a deer are a sharp knife and a strong stomach. Bobby and AM go a step further by putting on gloves and putting a tarp down so that the garage doesn't get too bloody. The work goes like this:

1. Cutting the butt to free the colon, but without puncturing the colon, which would taint the meat.

2. AM props the head and antlers up, then spreads the hind legs and holds them apart to keep the body in place.

3. Bobby slices a shallow 2cm slit all the way from the testicles up the midline, from pelvic bone to breastbone.

4. AM separates the hide from the organs, holding the knife with the blade facing up to avoid puncturing the organs.

5. Then Bobby cuts the diaphragm away from the cavity's walls and works all the way to the spine to separate it. He cuts the windpipe.

6. Now for the big show: with one long, strong pull on the windpipe, Bobby yanks out the heart, liver, lungs, intestines, stomach, and bladder all at once. They are deposited on the tarp in a glorious heap. BLORP.

7. While Bobby deals with that, AM flips the deer over and spreads its legs so that the blood can drain.

8. After that is the easy part: fillet out the backstraps, tenderloins, and neck meat, then remove the quarters.

In the end, AM and Bobby estimate that they've taken 20kg of meat out of the deer.

"Wait, save that," Mato says, arriving late enough so that AM and Bobby are confident that he hasn't overheard anything. He strides forward and scoops up the deer's liver with his bare hand. Well, his hand is bare metal, but still ungloved. "And that too." He picks up the deer's heart with his other hand.

"These are the best parts," he declares. "I'll cook these up for dinner tonight." He marches off with bloody deer organs in his hands.

Wow, he actually knows which part is the best, she suddenly feels so small and insignificant. This is an achievement because butchering the deer was an empowering experience. She opens her mouth and then closes it, as no words appear. "He actually knows what it all tastes like" she finally says to herself. As the internal organs they were about to throw away look so small in these big metallic hands.

When Jawsey hears about Mato's plan with the liver, he arranges to be done with other food prep in the kitchen by then, so that the smell doesn't get into the other food. He knows how nutritious liver is supposed to be, bu the couple of times that he's had some he didn't care for it.

When Mato comes in though Jawsey greets him with a smile, slaps him on the back and exclaims "Good idea, it is probably good for your recuperation, lots of iron! Eat all you can." He stays to help, and to make sure that there are some other things to eat that night.

Interrupted by Mato, Bobby dropped the conversation and just shrugged as the cyborg went away with his two prizes.
"Personally, I find the heart too chewy - you have to tenderize the drek out of it to make it palatable. The liver is fine, though nowadays I avoid it - too much environmental poisons around - and those tend to accumulate in the liver tissue. Not directly harmful, but also not the best flavor enhancers."

Bobby began to clean up. To Jawsey he said: "Yeah, Cutty certainly has a recipe - and I bet it's for a stew. Cutty is a stew-kinda-guy.
For our own preservation, we can airdry the stuff for jerky or pemmican. Depending on the seasoning, that can really be a treat. Though you lose something like 75% in volume and weight through dehydration. So probably best if we serve it up at your feast.
Personally, I like sauerbraten - wine marinated pot roast. Takes three days and real wine or wine vinegar, but it's delicious. My mother used to make it."

Bobby went silent again, washing his hands after taking out the trash.

When he went back to find AM: "Almost forgot to answer you earlier: Having more money doesn't make you safer - it just gives you different things to worry about. You are probably right about rich people staying alive longer, but I don't think they actually live longer. Because existing isn't actually living in my opinion. And that's why shapechanging makes a difference: I'm experiencing as many different lives as I'm able to take different forms. The demands of our job and our environment grants us unique experiences that force us to develop and adapt. Mato nearly died, but he made it - and he'll likely come out of the experience changed and more experienced.
So I'm saying - our current lifestyle might be detrimental to our surival, but it is certainly conductive to us living life to its fullest."

She makes some tea and seats in the kitchen to rest a bit from prepping the meat, she plans to help with cooking after she finishes her tea. As usual, she makes a whole pot and wordlessly invites the rest to drink. Responding to Bobby, she says, "Do you think I can do it too? How did you start? Do you just know how to behave in all these forms?"