After his nap, Bobby was happy to go to lunch. As usual, when he had the chance, he opted for real beef and lots of fresh fruit as dessert.

He opted to accompany Mato, though the background count made him feel really ill.

Bobby added to Mato's opening statement: "And we are by no means put out if you don't want the hassle. We'll gladly take the remaining deposit and set up our auction elsewhere."

Tony nods to Mato and patiently listens to Bobby. He takes then a shorter pause, and then he asks "Would this place fit your needs?"

"I'll tag along, who knows, maybe I can learn something, or even be useful," Rachel comments to Mato's question. "Surely, it will be an interesting conversation."

When they get down to the rooms, she retreats from astral space, as it is not exactly pleasant down there.

This must be where the Finnigans deal with unwanted guests or those caught cheating in the casino... she muses.

Tony's veiled threat does not go unnoticed, but they knew who they were dealing with here, so not exactly unexpected.

"I certainly hope so." She puts on a confident smile.

Tony sizes Rachel up for a brief moment, then he says in his stoic voice. "It is the most secure place in the casino and we can let you use it for your business in exchange for a future favor."

"No matrix reception - a bit counterproductive for an online auction. Also the BGC is making me sick."
Bobby answered honestly if not diplomatically.

Tony says drily "I know about your magic card he pauses and adds matter-of-factly "it is too hot to handle upstairs."

"It's good that you know, Tony," Mato nods, although his level of sincerity is unclear. "Friendship is easier without secrets."

Mato looks around the dungeon.

"You might be right, Tony," he allows. "But, at the same time, it would be difficult to conduct business in such an environment. There's no signal to the outside world but there is a background count that will not only nullify our innate advantages but also make us actively ill. The Gates is desirable for its combination of luxury and security, but this room trades away half of that equation."

Tony says, "When dealing with mages, my reason was to nullify some of their advantages. Or they'll be tossing their magical nonsense to pull a fast one on you. These bastards are a lot to handle when they try to hassle you for some coins. That card is a lot more, we decided it was too risky to host you in a more pleasant space. I am afraid that finding a place for an auction would be very difficult unless you do not want your deposit and reputation back."

"Can we get a cable down here, which is connected to a device or drone in a nearby area, where reception is still possible?" Rachel asks.

"Also, about that magic. I perfectly understand your position, you need to protect yourself and your business, of course. But maybe it would be possible to give us some more advanced permissions around the hotel? Naturally, we won't use any magic that will interfere with your business or the casino, help anyone cheat, or anything like that. That is not in our interest at all. But some extra surveillance might be useful, and we could alert your own security, if we find anything suspicious. We could also help fend off magical threats, if there were any. Hopefully, they are not that dumb to try anything like that, but you never know."

"A cable is possible, privileges on the wards - sorry, no, we do not trust you guys enough," Tony responds in a succinct and brutally honest manner.

"Am I seeing this right? We are paying 20k to stay in a windowless room that feels like the murderbasement of a serial killer? Damn, that's some hard earned Nuyen."

Bobby was less than happy with this turn of events.

<<That doesn't work. I mean, it's super safe, but if the sales approach doesn't work how are we getting the card to Nightmare? If the spirit wants to take it by force, it'll have to level half the casino.>>

Tony says, "You are welcome to lay low here; this was the deal with Vala. If you are looking to actively look for troubles, then the insane mages buy the card in the windowless room where they won't burn our carpets. This is the best the family can offer you, we run a business here, kapish?" as much as you can say, he seems truthful and not eager to close a deal.

There may not be a link to the external matrix from here, but firing messages to things right in front of her had to still be possible. <<OK, what if we go with the 'sell the card to a sucker, and let Nightmare get it from them?' angle? Make the whole auction and pick-up slow enough to let 'weenies get in place for their attack? Play up the security of the auction to show that we did all that we could, not our fault if they aren't as safe on their own? Of course the risk is that they are that safe and Nightmare doesn't get the card, that wouldn't be a good look.>>

Tamarind thinks a bit more, then offers what she hopes is a better idea <<We offer viewings here, to prove legitimacy. Let's us a get a bit of a read on the bidders, right? Then we take the bids in private, and announce the winner as somebody we think the 'weenies can appropriately hit. Private bids make sense, so unless they actually compare notes they don't have to know that it didn't go to the highest bidder. Heck, we don't even have to tell anyone that the highest bidder will win, who'd expect that we wouldn't take the richest offer?>>

She's still itching to come up with some good solution where they go mobile, but she has to admit that staying one step ahead is at best a short term game.

<<Good points. But that creates two new problems:
First: Private viewings will necessitate bringing people down here - including spirits who want to buy. There's nothing stopping them from just taking it from our corpses if they are strong enough - like certain dragons or free spirits. The whole point of this arrangement is keeping those people out.

Second: Even if this goes without a hitch, we still have to decide on a sucker that will take the brunt of Nightmare's attention. Worse, we'll have to tell Nightmare who we sold to, or we can't be sure the card will come to it. That's a damage to our rep that I'm not comfortable with. Worse still, even if we don't tell, people might think we double crossed them - especially after all that security that we are showing here.

Let's make this simple: We call the various people that we know have an interest in the card and ask for their bids. Then we also call Nightmare or rather his flunky Carn-Evil and tell them, they are in the bid, but only if they add the money they owe us from the hit on us. We don't have to call it that, but we let him know that either he does that, or we sell it directly overseas.

Nothing suspicious about us being avaricious. Our trump card is that no-one knows yet that we have Raven and Tamarind now on the team. That means they can move freely about. Add to that, that we have the protection of the Finnigans for this whole thing, and there is little Nightmare can do but to pay us.>>

Bobby sent while looking ponderously around, turning to Tony:

"Can we set up a temporary lodge down here, so we can at least have one room that won't make us barf?"

Mato scowls.

<<This place is foul>> he DNIs to the others. It smells awful, by which he means it doesn't smell like anything. There's an astringent, antiseptic scent that's the olfactory equivalent of a gross background count.

<<Under no circumstances is the murderbasement worth a favor to the mob. That puts us in their pocket for something of questionable value, at best. There are so many hoops we have to jump that counteract the value of the security that this hole provides.>>

Mato is very tempted to say this out loud. Tony seems like the honest, direct type. But, at the same time, Mato wants to do his colleagues the courtesy of not scuttling things without consulting them.

<<Bobby makes good points.>>

<<Raven and Tamarind are so new that they can pose as the sellers. The sale doesn't even have to be directly connected to SIS. There's some plausible deniability while we relocate our living quarters and the heat dies down.>>

<<We should bail. Do the biz elsewhere so the carpets don't get burnt and piss off the wrong folks. Use the hotel for a good dinner and a massage. Gamble a bit, rub elbows with future clients.>>

Tony responds "Lodge is fine as long as you keep the strange stuff in your room, we need the rest of the place presentable enough for our less esteemed clientele." he comments on Bobby's suggestion about a magical lodge.

Tamarind thinks through Bobby's and Mato's suggestions, then offers <<I did arrive from Denver not that long ago, and am living in cheap digs and have a small debt. People might have seen me around SIS, I haven't been secret about it, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't have had a card and decided I had to sell it. Maybe it only just arrived from Denver -- I could include a trip to the airport and then back here before putting it on the market, if anyone back traced they might assume it just came in, they didn't pick up on it on the brief transit. I reached out to Raven as local magical talent. The word will get out eventually that we were all here together and that I'm with SIS and people who care will see through the ruse I expect, but for the moment it might hold, if Raven does the talking.>>

<<But I don't see how that gets us any farther ahead on the whole "once people divine that the card is in town, they will come looking for it, with magical or mundane forces, or both. We are still left with a) sit in a fortress, here or elsewhere, b) try to keep moving too quickly for anyone to draw a bead on us -- for that it may help if they don't know it is SIS, or c) sell it on so quickly that people don't have time to assemble their forces. I don't think anyone has suggested a different solution yet?>>

Bobby nodded to Tony: "At least something. We have to discuss this a bit among our team though."

<<Alright, I think we can agree that this place isn't really for us.

How about this idea: We just rent a safe deposit box at one of the larger banks for a month and get insurance.
We put the card in and then we start the auction.
AM is out of town, so no-one can get to her.
Raven and Tamarind are not yet associated with us, so no-one should come after you either.
Mato and I are pretty hardy, so anyone trying to get to us will be in for a hard fight. And if we let it be known, that we don't actually have the card on us, the only thing they can do is trying to blackmail us.

Now we are free to just announce we are selling it, make sure it reaches Carn-Evil and Nightmare, gauge them for compensation and then be done with it.>>

Rachel is skeptical.

<< That sounds a lot more simple than it probably will be. If we do not stay in a safe place, we can definitely expect some parties trying to use force. Not something I am looking forward to. But, yeah, this place down here is not a good choice, and it seems like the suite isn't going to work, either. We can still stay there, though, right? >>

<<The bank idea works for me. We should go do it now, before anyone is apt to have the card localized. I'm all for staying in the suite, for the security. Hopefully it keeps people from even taking a run at us.>>

<<Not having direct possession of the card would make me uneasy>> Mato admits.

<<I grant that a safe deposit box might be just as secure as any other available option, but it would still make me nervous.>>

<<But if we don't do that then we're basically on the run until the card gets sold and transferred. How long could we keep that up?>>

<<If those wards that we popped>> Mato is being very generous with the 'we' <<were the thing keeping it under wraps then Tamarind is right that we should go now.>>

<<And, yes, let's stay in the suite. I don't have hands or feet but I still appreciate the feel of Giza 45 Egyptian cotton.>>

<<Any idea, what else we can do, without risking getting robbed? It's certainly safer to have a safe deposit key on you than the merchandise.>>

Bobby asked

<<In any case we have to come to a decision - stay with the card in the murder basement or without it in the luxury suit.>>

Tony watches the team preoccupied in their discussion and eventually says, "Well, just let Tammie know if you want to use our basement. The Gates is happy to entertain you nonetheless. He sighs and says resolutely "In bocca al Lupo, gentlepeople!", and as he says that he signals them toward the elevator. While Tony's suggestion still stands, he does not feel in a very accommodating mood to negotiate it further.

"If I may, I would like to recap and summarize everything, just to be sure, that we are on the same page here," Rachel says.

"Vala hired us to deal with the business around the card. She also put up a credit line with you, that is used to pay us, and yourself. 70k total, of which 20k are meant for you, which we are supposed to gamble away in the casino, and 50k for us, which we will receive from you, probably as our "winnings" from all the gambling, once Vala confirms, that we have done our part. In addition there is the suite, which is rented for one week, and which we can use during that time."

"Now, when it comes to the card, it gets a little more complicated. You know about the card, obviously, but Vala does not seem to have cleared anything else about handling it with you in advance. You do not want us to meet with potential buyers to show them the card inside the casino property, including the hotel and more specifically our suite, unless we do it here in the basement, which you would offer us to use for that purpose, in exchange for a future favor. The basement, however, due to the magical nature of this whole business around the card, isn't very well-suited for our needs. Can we keep the card in the suite, though, under our protection, if we make arrangements to meet any potential buyers elsewhere, outside of the casino? And could we meet with potential buyers here in the suite, while the card is at another location, in the basement, or completely off-site during that time?"

You have 70k credit, and the suite costs 20k, which you can either pay us or get a refund if you left that kind of money overall on the gambling tables. It is not as complicated as you make it up to be, all of it legitimate transactions seriously. As for your credit, you need to pay it in full at checkout.

You can keep your card here as long as it causes no problems. Vala took some precautions and took that risk upon herself. I am sure you'd know how to properly handle such an asset. "

Mato is relieved to have the easy out. There had been a moment of concern that Tony would lean on them to use the basement, and thus owe Tony a favor. Mato wants to be in the hotel but he absolutely does not want to be in Tony's pocket. He readily accepts the invitation to return to the elevator.

Mato doesn't speak Italian but "in bocca al lupo" is so close to what the Spanish would be ("en la boca del lobo") that he turns to see if Tony is trying to intimidate them.

<<I don't know Italian but in Spanish that would be something like "into the wolf's mouth". Can't say I like the sound of it. What do you make of that?>> Mato doesn't know that it's a colloquial expression.

<<No, not really>> he responds to Bobby's question about better ideas. <<So I'd vote for in the suite without it.>>

There's a part of Mato that really wants to keep the card in sight, or at least on hand, at all times. Just take it, slot it into a smuggling compartment, and take off running. Get into the Cascades, dig a cave in the late-winter snow, and hide.

But, logically, when he holds that approach up to the notion of a safe deposit box, he must admit that the card is likely the more secure with the bank. For some reason that digs at his pride, even though it shouldn't. I'm as secure as a vault, aren't I? he asks himself. Better, even: I'm mobile. But I suppose there are more people dedicated to keeping the vault safe. And if someone stages a heist? Well I guess we'll just have to steal it right back.

"Alright, we are agreed - we want the suite as originally planned and we'll make sure that the card won't be causing issues."

Bobby replied after a pretty awkward silence. "Thanks for your time."

<<Mato and I have official SINs, so we can rather easily get a safe deposit. But since we'll be carrying the card outside the wards, it's probably a good idea if we all go together.>>

Tony stays in the basement, where he met the team. The team goes into the elevator. The ride is eventless, but Mato feels a bit uneasy. Either the card gets to him, or perhaps the situation was troubling. It is probably nothing... is it? When the elevator arrives, Tammie greets them. "Did the meeting go well?" she asks politely but does not wait for an answer. "Is there anything I can do for you? There is a very nice stand-up show tonight if."

"Later, we got some errants to run, but we should be back in a few hours." Bobby replied, while at the same time looking for an affordable safe deposit contract.

Tamarind suggested "We should be able to find a clear plastic box of the right size to hold the card, shops use them for moderately valuable things on display at time, we should be able to get one that locks in some way. Ideally one with a second compartment that is opaque, or which at least we can line with something opaque -- for the same reason that stores do, to put a tracker in where it isn't as visible. Not like anyone getting the box won't guess, but possibly not right away. Just one more chance to track if someone does get it away and we need to track it down. Fagin should be able to get something like that to us quickly enough. A small possible security leak -- we bought something that is about the right size for a card -- but I don't think her recirculates information particularly quickly."

"And while it is likely that nobody is tracing us yet, cameras and records exist. Maybe we call in a couple of rental vans, then have them head out on likely routes the same time that we head out, maybe we even take on of the rentals, and take care to not be easily traceable to the bank in case anyone has a hacker with access to gridguide records or who is just good with cameras. "

She also has a real SIN, but she doesn't like to draw attention to it, and Bobby has already offered his or Mato's for registering for a safety deposit box, so she doesn't bother mentioning it.

"I can also make people invisible or look like someone else," Rachel offers. "That should make tracing our steps with cameras a bit harder."

Bobby shrugged: "We can do that, but honestly I just planned to open a safe deposit at three banks and visit five. Our opposition might be able to hit one bank at short notice, but I doubt, they can manage three."

"That reminds me, can't they find the card by magical means? That is something we need to consider as well."

"That's why I looked for shielded deposits. Banks have measures against spirits popping up inside. And shapechangers."

Bobby sounded as if he had intimate knowledge about that.

Mato does feel uneasy. He had not enjoyed the tour of the murderbasement. Was it just the background count - strong enough to seem into his highly mundane self - or was it the discussion with Tony? The mention of a favor puts him slightly out-of-sorts.

Or was it just indigestion? He had a rich lunch of steak and eggs and pecan pie. He was an ork, yes, and orks are famous for eating snakes and hurlg and crazy spice, but maybe he's feeling the effect of a a bunch of calorie-dense foods that his body isn't accustomed to.

Tammie greets them and asks if she can do anything.

"Thank you for arranging the meeting, Ms. Wu," he says. "It was most illuminating.

"May I trouble you to have the kitchen send up some licorice root tea, please? Or, failing that, ginger tea. I fear that I overextended myself at lunch. I would be most indebted, thank you."

Once they have some privacy, he offers feedback on what he's hearing.

"I like the tracer idea," he tells Tamarind, dabbing some perspiration off his forehead with a handkerchief. "That would help set my mind at ease about not having the card on-hand. But is there a way to protect the tracer so that it cannot be easily detected or disabled?

"And multiple safe deposit boxes are a good idea too," he tells Bobby. "We should put something in each of them. Dummies, decoys.

"I had some sports cards when I was a kid, like 11, 12 years old. You can get a hard plastic case that holds a card. The fancy ones will close with four screws, one at each corner. A bit of overkill but looks impressive. It gives the impression of security. They're only about 5 nuyen each. You can also get them with magnets, or even just a clear plastic case that's similar to what the Japanacorpers use to hold their business cards." The business cards were an anachronism, but sometimes etiquette persists long after the practical applications of something have expired.

"I'm not worried about spirits. Even if they can pop up inside a vault, that doesn't mean they can get out. At least, not with the card. They'll have to walk out the vault door, just like the rest of us."

Mato wipes his forehead again.

"I need a moment before we go to the bank," he tells Bobby. "Let me take my jacket off. Something isn't sitting well with me. Either the lunch or that meeting with Tony."

"Spirit search is restricted to thinks you know i.e. have seen or gotten a good description. As long as we don't send around images, it should be relatively hard to find. By the way, that would be one way to make sure Nightmare gets it's grubby burning fingers on it - only give him the real image of the card.

Right, let's get moving to find such a case. Tamarind, I gather you can modify it with trackers. I'll lend you a hand - I need to polish up on that hardware stuff again."

As Mato looked ill, Bobby took a discreet look at his aura. Despite the glaring black essence holes, he was able to see some of the influcences there at work.

"We should prioritize getting that card away from you. I don't like the look of this."

Back at the suite, Mato gets his jacket and his tie off. He still looks a bit breathless, despite the lack of physical exertion. He sits on the edge of one of the beds and looks up to Bobby, who is studying him on the astral.

"I have a chill. But not like I'm cold; if anything I'm sweatting. But it's like a tingling, wintry feeling."

A thought occurs to him.

"Back at home" - his tone makes it clear he's talking about Sioux Nation - "I used to hire retired Wildcats for lessons. Shooting, stealth, Okichitaw, all that. Weekend warrior stuff, at that point I didn't even know that I would ever use it; it was just for fun. One of them - big bloke, name of Šá, built like a rectangle, severe, no sense of humor - said that this feeling was the sign of an astral intruder, or the feeling of an astral form passing through yours. I had a laugh at the absurdity of it but he was deadly serious.

"Did they ever teach you that in the SDF? Or, no, why bother because you could just see for yourself."

Mato looks down and shakes his head.

"I think the Anglo expression is 'someone walked over my grave'." As if to emphasize the point, he gives an involuntary shudder. He looks up again to see Bobby's verdict, then over to Raven for a second opinion.

"They actually did. Had to teach myself how to see the astral. Still, that's not a good sign. Something is already drawn to the card. We need to get going and get it back behind wards."
Bobby indicated to the door: "Let's get in the car. Spirits generally have a problem to materialize in a moving vehicle."

"Great, let's go. I'll tell the van to prepare itself. We can stick the card in its hidden compartment, so it isn't on someone but isn't in the open."

She took a quick look around to make sure she had everything, then started heading towards her vehicle and the drones inside it. After two steps however she stopped. She shot a quick glance back and asked Mato or Bobby (it wasn't too clear) "You need any help?"

Mato pulls himself to his feet, and then gets his jacket back on with an awkward motion very unlike his silky-smooth cyberlimbs.

"Keep an eye on me," he tells Tamarind. "If I take off, reel me in. Gently, if possible."

He heads to the van without his tea.

Bobby's first address was Ares Savings and Loan. With the required pitstop at the hobby shop, he decided that this bank would be only used as a decoy holder.

"Alright, I'll front the cash for the safe deposit box. Give me one of the empty cardholders. 60 Nuyen for half a year according to their matrix page. Mato you better accompany me, so we can establish a pattern."

Mato gets to the van and slumps in the back. He pops open his smuggling compartment and accesses it through a subtle slit in his slacks. He produces the card, which he passes to Tamarind to place it in the van's hidden compartment.

Then he feels... the same? He's unsure but more may be revealed over the course of the drive. Of course, it could just be indigestion.

He nods to Bobby, "Sounds good.

"Banks often prefer to offer safe deposit boxes to further an existing relationship so we might get declined if we don't have an account there.

"My new accounts" (you presume he means his trust fund) "are through BANCOMEX." That's Aztechnology's subsidiary. "They should be able to open one for me.

"SIS' accounts are through Metabank." This is Evo's subsidiary.

"Yeah, Savings and Loans is actually the bank where I maintain my account. Got a nice Ares Predator for opening it. Sadly had to sell it a few years ago."

Bobby got out, and headed for the entrance, carrying the fake card box with him.

The streets are busy and crowded as people go about their day. You can spot a gang of several motorists with anti-metahuman symbols on their fancy jackets. They are armed but do not seem to attract attention from the police. They eye Mato with hostility as he enters the bank and, by association, the rest of you.

The bank itself has two tiers public banking, which appears more like a sluggish service, and private or business banking on the second floor with an entirely different service level. You would have to choose what kind of service are you shooting for.

Rachel will stay in the van. They said that it would be beneficial, if their adversaries would not know them, that is Tamarind and Raven, belonging to SIS, which might give them some additional options at some point, so it makes sense not to be seen together too much.

She has been using her astral sight to make sure nothing weird happens with the card, they are carrying, without them noticing.

Watching the card seems a bit of a chore, considering it is out of physical sight, in the smuggling compartment of the car. It is completely possible with a bit of projection, and so she closes her eyes and watches the card. It has a vibrant but completely mundane aura, and seems static or dormant most of the time, but then after watching it for half an hour or so - it suddenly sends out a weak astral entity kin to a watcher spirit. Rachel has seen a similar technique at SIS - a creepy drawing containing a watcher spirit keeping security in one of the rooms. AM actually avoids looking at that painting.

The watcher is shaped as multiple elongated tendrils that form a large flower with complex and vibrant patterns in various directions. It is beautiful but also very obvious to anything with astral eyes. Of course, the card is not always active, but a searching spirit would be hard to miss. Being aware of what they are carrying, it appears that one of the bikers is actively looking at them, as well as a tall businessman in a suit that stops to appreciate the mesmerizing flower.

Bobby decided to draw less attention and went for the ground floor were he usually conducted his business, scrolling through the bank's available services in an AR feed, filling out what he could beforehand.

<< In case you are wondering, what these guys are staring at... there is a pretty large astral flower on our van right now, and both the ganger and the businessman are astrally active. It's kinda like a spirit, that emerged from the card. Not sure, if it is sentient, though. >>

<<Drek. Can you cast a barrier around the card? if its so obvious on the astral, our whole charade is for nothing.>>
Bobby indicated for Mato and him to leave the bank and return to the car.

<< Sorry, no. I could conceal it on the physical, but not on the astral. It is not always there, we might just have to watch it a bit longer and time our visits better. I mean, honestly, if we manage to get it out without anyone noticing, this might even help our little charade here. These guys will totally write something about it online somewhere, making it very believable, that the card is actually here, if interesting and knowledgable parties stumble over messages about the astral flower. >>