Bobby nodded, sweaty and quite a bit tired: "Where did you get the milk? Personally, I'd go for chicken eggs. You could even keep some under the roof. Has comparable nutrition and you can produce them much cheaper. I know a guy who breeds them in his basement - not optimal for the animals, but a lot better than the factory farms.
But you are doing good work - any help I can give you with it?"

Cutty cocks an eyebrow.

"You don't know? Maybe I shouldn't say if he didn't tell you. I got the milk from Mato. There's not a lot about him that's soft - certainly not his hands or feet - but he seems to have a soft spot for kids.

"I get the sense he had a tough time of it in childhood. He's on the smaller size for an ork, and you know how that community prizes strength. I imagine that bled into his psyche, made him want to get all the work done.

"A tough past can do two things: it can make you want everyone else go through the same since you had to, or it can make you sympathetic to those going through it themselves. With Mato, I get the sense that it's the latter. Thus, the milk."

Cutty nods to Bobby's plan. "Chickens are a good idea. You can feed them scraps, turn waste into protein. The catch is that I don't know the first thing about raising chickens. Well, beyond the fact that they eat bugs and scraps.

"If you know someone who can build a chicken coop, provide the chickens, and check up on them, then I'll shovel the drek. Doesn't have to be one person, mind you. I'm imagine it will have to be a group effort. We do have to be cognizant of the roof's structural integrity too. That roof must be 50 or 60 years old and I'm not sure much work has been done on it during that span. There are soft spots when I walk around up there, and judging by the number of leaks we get down here... I'm thinking it's near the end of its useful life."

Rachel doesn't mind, that Bao and Jason live in their own happy bubble. Good for them. She has seen different parts of this life now, and it's certainly better here, even though she knows full well and from her own experience, that those that do not have this privilege often end up there due to circumstances that are beyond their control.

"Well, as you know we are in the security and investigation business. I cannot go into any detail, because much of our work is confidential. Pretty much what private investigators do. I still remember that you were a little upset about our presence here, when we first met. Hopefully, we could alleviate your concerns somewhat by now. Is it exciting? Sure, sometimes it certainly is. Most of the time it is just routine, though. Like most jobs are. There are no fixed hours, though, so that can be a boon or a bane. I have to push myself to the limits here and there. Luckily, that is more of a rare occurance."

"You sure do, and it is appreciated. This neighborhood is nice. I would know." I sigh; I wonder why she does not keep in touch with Ron's daughter 20 years seems like a lot, but my senses tell me not to go there. The last time I went with my heart, it imploded in my face - it is none of my business. "Have you tried golfing? Rachel seems to like it. I never tried it. Got my hands full with boxing and running, and Yoga."

What can I say? My standards are low, but as long as nobody throws a Molotov into my room or plants a bomb in my mailbox, it is a good neighborhood. I don't think I'll ever truly be cool with the experience of having all our windows blow off and the room filled with glasses and Mato on the floor on the brink of death. I mean, people die all the time -especially in Redmond, but it is different when it is someone I care about.

Bobby looked up at the roof: "When the weather is getting better, we'll have to take a look up there and renovate. Chickens aren't that hard to take care of. I studied them from a predator's perspective. Shelter from acid rain will be the most important part. Finding enough protein for them the second highest. Their guano is high on bio-available nitrogen, so you get a good source of fertilizer if you want to go for planters as well.

But yeah, first we need to fix your roof. I'll shop around and see if I can get you some supplies on the cheap. As often as clients try to pay us in product, I'm sure I can get a deal until spring truly arrives."

Bobby paused:

"Yeah, I know about Mato's insecurities. I think meeting his real dad helped him somewhat. Definitely helped us with rent. We all have our demons to deal with, charity is one of the better ways to deal with them."

@Raven
"I dunno, the trid always made it seem so sexy," Bao says, doing a little wiggle. "Watching steamy affairs, chasing perps, kicking down doors, recovering stolen goods, running honeypots..." It's not entirely clear which trid shows Bao has been watching.

"I mean, it has to be more exciting than Sales or Finance!" she says, and Jason nods. "I have to do this TPS report first thing every Monday. I dread it; it hangs over the whole weekend like a guillotine." She sticks out her tongue and says, "Bleh!"

~~~

@AM
"Golfing seems like such a silly sport," Edie says. "I hesitate to even call it a 'sport'. It's a hobby for people with too much money and not enough sense.

"What's the objective? 'Hit this little ball into this little hole way over there'? It takes a bored Scottish shepherd to come up with that!

"And then what do you do? You spend extravagant sums of money on equipment, then an exorbitant amount on club fees, and then you spend all day walking around outside! Go to the park and do it for free!"

AM seems to have touched a nerve here. Edie continues on her soapbox for a minute or two, laying out her arguments about how golf is wasteful and ridiculous. "The time and resources could be better spent," she concludes. "On something like your garden!" she adds as an afterthought with a curt nod.

~~~

@Bobby
Cutty nods along to Bobby's plan and very valid points.

"Hey, look, before you go, there's one other thing I want to talk to you about. I heard about what happened at Downfall earlier in the week." He holds up his hands. "No judgement here. I say fair play to you for doing it without violence. But the guys there aren't too happy with you. They think you've done something with their friend.

"I'm just passing along intel. Those two are respected in the community, and they have friends willing to back them up. Rumor on the street is that they used to be shadowrunners. Maybe they don't look it now, but you know the old saying: Beware an old man in a profession where men die young.

"They're afraid of you, but fear makes them cautious, and caution keeps them smart. Just wanted to put it on your radar. Up to you what you do with it."

"It's not like the trids. Maybe if you were in actual intelligence or something like that, but I wouldn't know. Of course, the upside is, that every assignment is pretty different. I guess, you could call that part exciting. And, well, reports are also part of it, maybe not quite as regular, though."

I sigh and say, "Well, I love growing my food, and I can talk about that or help you with anything if you want to try. It is very practical, good for your soul, and even saves cash. I also have plenty of free time at my job. So I need my hobbies not to go crazy. You are not going to meet anyone interesting while gardening your yard. It is not going to make you any less lonely... Almost everything I do serves a practical purpose; I survived most of my life. However, once I had figured out survival, I wanted to thrive, not just survive. I do Yoga, but it is also quite silly, especially when I already do enough physical exercise. However, my neighbors go to yoga and not boxing sessions. So once a week, we wear silly yoga outfits and pose in very odd and difficult yoga poses, and then we have a milkshake and gossip. I only do it for the social aspects - it is not very different from why people golf. "

Bobby stopped and sighed: "Yeah, I feared as much. Didn't want to turn everyone into turtles - especially not if one probably could have counter spelled.
I think, I need to talk to them and clear the air. Could you facilitate a meeting with them and prime them? Dennis, the guy they worry about, is safe. If I had wanted to do him harm, I'd have just done that.

I really have no talent whatsover to help people - I could blame my totem for that, but I have the nagging suspicion that that's all on me. That's why I am so lucky to have a bunch of elves and a very shappy dressing ork in my team - makes it easy for me to keep to the role of bad cop.

Anyway, thanks for warning me. You are doing a great job here as well. And as always: Don't hesitate to call if you need help."

Cutty says, "I'll try. But, like you, I'm not diplomat. I'm just a trusted middleman. I hope.

"But they're probably not going to take your word that Dennis is safe. If you could provide some sort of proof - something that can't be forged - then it would go a long way toward mending bridges."

Bobby frowned: "What, like a photo with a newspaper? I'll see what I can scrounge up."

Bobby sent a call to the mayor - hoping that the commcode was still valid: <<Hi, just a follow up to your last job. There are a few well connected individuals searching for Dennis. I'd like to diffuse the situation by showing them that he is alive and well, so they stop asking unwanted questions.>>

Cutty looks confused. "What's a newspaper? You mean like a newsfax?"

After a few hours, the Mayor replies: <<You realize that would completely undermine the whole foundation of witness protection, don't you?>>

Bobby replied: <<Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say. Alright, I'll figure something out myself.>>

Thinking for a moment, he called his colleagues: <<Hey girls, how good are your illusion skills? I need to fake a "all's well" message from Dennis for his friends. I can assume his face no problem, but I'll need a bit of help to get the act right.>>

<< I should be able to do that. >>

<<Excellent - I'll arrange a meeting with his friends and you join in via trid call. Listen to the records I made with Dennis as well as the report on him, so you can impersonate him. We'll keep it short so there aren't any tricky questions to answer. All we need now is Cutty to organize a meet with me and the two guys.>>

Bobby replied.

>> Iktomi can bless that and make Raven more convincing. Perhaps we can send Dennis to a rehab/detox clinic. It would explain why he is no longer around.

<< Unless these guys are easy to fool, they might ask something that we do not really know... Also, how much of the truth should we tell them? Obviously not the details, but some vague hints? Something where it makes sense to be a little cryptic. >>

<<Stay with the truth - he is witness protection and can't tell anyone where he is. Don't leave them time to ask questions - talk about him having a chance to make things right with his daughter and that he is leaving his old life behind.
Use emotions - and talk about his self-sabotaging and -destructive tendencies. Tell them he isn't allowed to contact anyone, that you are using the modified link, I gave him and then end the call abruptly.
Just enough drama to get his friends of my back.>>

Bobby sent, already preparing a script in his mind.

I can't say that I hear voices or see spiders or the native American man, but my totem is accurate, and he is there, and it is my mojo that is not developed enough to see him except on special occasions. "Well, Iktomi, don't look at me like that. Of course, it is amusing, but don't you think we're making it just a bit too easy?" I have a bit of reservations about the entire plan. Not that I mind doing it; I would bury a body for Bobby. Hopefully, not literally, but heck, I am strong enough to dig after all the training sessions and mojo.

>> You are aware that if it does not work, they will be convinced that you murdered the guy.

Cutty arranges the commcall whenever you're ready for it but warns in advance that Cyclone and Steel Rat are very skeptical and won't be easily convinced.

Bobby called Cutty, after AM and Raven gave the go ahead. Bobby had handed over his self build stealth-tag commlink to be used for the communication. One of the features of this device was, that it allowed ownership be set to no-one.

<<Cutty, please arrange a meeting at your gymn around noon tomorrow. Tell them, I'll be there alone with answers and that there will be no violence from my side. I just want to explain and show that I have Dennis' best interests at heart. I'll also show them prove that he is well.>>

<< The biggest problem we have here is that we do not know how they communicate with each other. Do they have special phrases? How do they call each other? Probably best to cut all the niceties out. The call should be short. But there must be a reason for the urgency. So, telling them, that he is in witness protection, and his protectors don't want this call to last long, because of the risk of it being traced. He can tell them, that he will get in touch, once this whole thing blows over. >>

<<Yes, quit the call abruptly and imply that by contacting him they are endangering the deal he got.>>

Bobby replied

Cutty replies: <<They don't want to meet in person after 'what [you] pulled last time'. Their words. They want to talk to Dennis. They say they only need 30 seconds to learn what they want to know.>>

<<I know these guys look blue collar, and they are, but they're both service veterans. UCAS, I think, and probably thirty years ago at this point, but they're going to have their wits about them. Don't take this lightly because they won't either.>>

<<And frankly I'd rather not be caught in the middle if things escalate.>>

<<Alright, I'll call them. Give me their number>>

Bobby sighed and composed himself:

<<Hello Cyclone, hello Steel Rat,
I'm sorry that we didn't get off on the right foot, but you forced me to defend myself.
At no time did I force Dennis to do anything - he choose the offer of witness protection of his own free will. I cannot tell you details, why he needs protection. He'll have to tell you himself.
His handlers have made him sever ties with his old life completely, but I gave him a modded stealth tag that can make and receive calls. Here is the number - but be aware that his protective detail will likely kill the connection as soon as they detect it, so keep it short.>>

Bobby put the team in BCC, so they knew to expect the call.

AM boosts Bobby's charisma for the con and otherwise stays out of sight.

The call comes. As Cutty said, Steel Rat and Cyclone look deeply skeptical. Their brows are furrowed and they are frowning.

While Rachel is waiting, she positions herself in front of a nondescript wall, for the background of the video call.

She has prepared some spells to appear as Dennis (using the appearance she knows from him at the meeting with the Mayor, cleaned up just a little bit, but not too much) and also bolster her Charisma even further. Obviously, she will not try to be smooth here, but rather immitate Dennis as good as possible. Acting a little nervous also seems fitting.

<< AM, I have another idea... how about a moment after the call starts you storm in through the door (not into vision, just so they can hear the door and your voice), asking: "Why is there a signal going out? ... Dennis!? What the hell are you doing? Calls can be traced. We are trying to protect you here!" and then talking back through the door, away from the call, while "Dennis" mumbles some apologies your way: "Cut that signal, now!" Well, and then we do that. >>

I roll my eyes and say , "Fine, I'll do it..." still think it is silly. I should have known better than to try and deny a great spirit for its opening to cause chaos and mischief in the world. Can't go against the spiderweb, can't convince Bobby just to say the truth and not try to provide "proof".


I play my part according to plan.

Showtime... 'Dennis' fumbles with the thing, the image shaking a little before it steadies. "Is this on? Hello? Oh, there you are."

Raven's goal is to keep talking most of the time, to give them little room for questions, and hopefully avoid not having answers to what they might ask.

And she has to talk in a way, that does not imply knowledge or lack thereof. Do they know about his daughter, or not? Do they know he went off to get this deal? If what she says works in both situations, hopefully it will be convincing enough.

AM is supposed to interrupt the conversation pretty soon. It won't take long to find the outgoing signal, if his 'protectors' are being vigilant. It makes sense. And talking for too long just increases the chances of saying something wrong, something completely unbelievable. They do not know the two well enough, so there is a lot of guessing involved.

"He told me, that this won't last long. They will not like it, but whatever. I'm in witness protection now. Will be for a while. Hopefully, when this is all over, things will be better. I am valuable to them and they are offering something in return. It is a chance, and I have to take it. It's not like I'm getting a lot of these. I cannot tell you much, you understand. It's for my little girl. All for my little girl..."

Suddenly his face turns to the side (where the door just opened outside of the field of vision).

With my most badass voice, I don't have Badass; I have asertive. I interrupt and open the door. "There is a signal going out, quick! Kill the signal! We're compromised." I open the door look at Raven and say Dennis!? What the hell are you doing? Shut it off now! For god's sake, we're trying to protect you!"

While talking, I use my deck to generate noise and scramble the signal for dramatic effect. I gradually increased matrix noise, making the image flicker and the sound quality drop right before the call disconnected.

Word reaches back (via Cutty) that Cyclone and Steel Rat aren't exactly mollified.

"They think it was bulldrek," Cutty says. "They kept saying 'Dennis doesn't have a little girl!'

"Plus they didn't get to ask any questions, and I don't think they're going to be happy until they do.

"But there must be a flicker of doubt in their minds because they're not immediately baying for blood."

Bobby was drinking an isotonic sports drink after another workout as Curry was telling him that.

Finally, he shrugged: "Well, I did what I could. If they insist in becoming my enemy, I'll oblige.
Thanks for your help. Keep me posted if they make noise or try to interfere with my work or my friends."

Cutty tells Bobby, "I'm going to be honest: I'm just a trusted middleman, not an early-warning system. I'm not going to tip you off any more than I would tip them off if you were coming.

"They're good dudes. I like them. I think you'd like them too - and that they would like you - under different circumstances. Maybe we'll get there one day and can be laughing about it together over AlmostEgg, hash browns, and soykaf. But until then, I'll try to play the peacemaker."

Bobby nodded: "You might have noticed that I didn't include myself in that early warning. I'm not going to hunt them - I just don't want them to go for my friends or my clients when they have beef with me.
I went out of my way to get Dennis a good deal and finish this feud peacefully. Hell, I risked getting shot by screaming at them instead of just taking down the one with the shotgun. They were the ones who didn't want to listen or let this go.
I'm all for burying the hatchet - it's entirely their decision if that's in the ground or in their skull."

Cutty nods to Bobby's nodding.

"Look, I get it. I think it's a misunderstanding around asymmetrical intel.

"But look at it from their perspective. Let's say a stranger approaches AM, and tells her something that upsets her. That's concerning, right? And then AM goes back to talk to the stranger again, and then she disappears without a trace! Are you just going to let that slide? Are you just going to take the stranger's word for it that 'AM is fine' and 'everything is whiz'? No, man, you're going to do everything in your power to make sure that your friend is actually okay.

"That's where Steel Rat and Cyclone are coming from. Y'all are cut from the same cloth. They're good guys looking out for their friend, just like you would. And they're not going to just let the matter drop, just like you wouldn't. Neh?"

Bobby thought about that for a moment: "Yeah, I get that. But I wouldn't stop the guy appearing with a hand written note from handing it to AM. I'd get that intel before I go all out to scare him off - informed decisions, you know?
I'm not angry that they are protective, I'm angry that they are doing it stupidly."

"You're angry all the time, Bobby. I've never known you when you weren't angry."

Bobby shrugged: "Fair. Then again, there's a lot in this world to be angry about - and you should have seen me a few years ago. Compared to then I'm downright chill.

I'll be back with the building materials to fix the roof. If AM and Rachel help us, we can get this done without scaffolding and within one day."