"Wiz," Mato says, if the description is relayed to him, perhaps with a touch of curiosity and a dash of envy. "Time to make some new friends."

Mato hasn't put on the Wild Hunt yet, knowing it would look out of place in the city.

"I'll go say 'hoi' then," he announces as he pulls on his armor jacket. Before stepping out, he makes sure that all of his cyber's wireless functionality is disabled: eyes, ears, and nose, certainly, but also things like his hydraulic jacks and everything thing else in his cyberlimbs too. He leaves behind his firearms but fills his pockets with throwing knives and shuriken.

"Let's go dark," he says, switching his commlink off. "Tam, maybe put the family to bed. Sing them to sleep so they don't wake up with nightmares.

"If you need to peel out, just punch it. I'll catch up. If it all goes to drek, pick me up at The Big Rhino."

Mato double-checks that he's not transmitting anything, even a SIN. That's a no-no Downtown, but fairly low on the list of no-nos that may be publicly committed within the next five minutes.

Popping out, Mato leans on the van casually, using it as cover as he gets a good angle on the direction of the motorcycles' approach. His vision magnification still works even without wireless connectivity, so he zooms in and tries to get a good look before the new chummers arrive.

"Right."

Rachel also disables all her wireless connections, which isn't a whole lot to begin with.

The three riders didn't show any trace of magic, but they certainly showed surprise when they saw Mato standing there.
Slowing their bikes, They came to a standstill next to the billboard. Suddenly, the eyes of the one in the lead narrowed. Mato could follow his gaze easily - he had discovered the thin fibre optic cable that led to the van.

All three suddenly looked much more alert - Mato could now see that each of them was a healthy looking human man in their twenties. They all wore biker leathers with open helmets on identical offroad machines. Each of them carried a baton in a holster as well as a heavy pistol. One could have mistaken them for corpo-guards, yet they lacked any identifying markers - at least to an AR-blind vision.

The one in front spoke:

"Who are you?" HIs voice was flat and monotone, revealing nothing about his feelings. No hostility but certainly no friendliness either.

AM is aware of the disruption. The pressure rises — the quiet before the plunge — but she still takes a few precious moments to finish the upload and retrieve the cable.

"No gunshots yet." she mutters dryly, glancing at Tamarind, then at the biker. She checks if everyone’s buckled up — especially herself. If Tamarind decides to ram or retreat, she wants to stay in one piece.

It’s strange for her not to be the one driving. Unsettling, almost. But Tamarind is a great driver — even if AM hasn’t witnessed it firsthand. And she accepts Mato's verdict to go matrix-dark, even if she doesn’t fully agree.

Meanwhile, Trouble doesn’t wait for permission or protocol.

"Aura is strange," they announce — not aloud, but manifesting just enough to impress the message directly into the team’s minds. "Almost like spirit possession… but technological. You might not want to share food with these guys."

AM tightens her focus, casting her counterspelling field. The protective magic spreads outward, threading through her teammates. No need for flash. Just strength. Just readiness.

Then Mato decides to approach the biker — unarmed.

AM unbuckles and trails behind him, her heart pounding. Fear, or excitement. Maybe both. It’s strange to feel protective over someone like Mato — someone built like a walking tank — but since the explosion, that feeling’s been there. And right now, it’s louder than the common sense whispering that they should run.

So she follows, ready to intervene. Still too overwhelmed to speak without grounding herself first. So Mato is likely to be the one starting the chat.

Trouble, meanwhile, has made themselves comfortable near Tamarind. They perch on the dashboard for a good visage point, relaxed as if this whole drama does not concern them, claws flexing, eyes glittering. And if cats could anatomically smile, they would have. Trouble can feel the tension like a thread pulled taut, and they like every moment of it.

When she gets a chance, Rachel will also take a closer look at their auras. Apparantly, there is something curious to see. She stays in the car for now, only peeking outside through a small slit, just wide enough so she can use her astral senses.

Rachel saw the same as Trouble and was able to confirm: Nanites saturated the auras of the three men, most likely CFD victims turned into Monads

"Security," Mato says simply.

Ah, I should have had AM or Rachel give me a uniform, he thinks belatedly.

"Facilities Management detected an issue and deployed a maintenance team to investigate."

It's a bulldrek story and Mato doesn't really care if they believe it or not.

"And who are you?" he replies. "Triplets, biker leathers, no uniform, packing heavy pistols, riding offroad bikes Downtown. It seems to me you're out of place. What are you doing here? "

To Mato's words the three stared at him wordlessly for a second. Then the leader replied:
"You are not showing any authorization badges. You are required to turn on your AR here. Your voice pattern shows contempt and dishonesty.
You are lying.
Answer our question truthfully or we will use force."

Synchronous, they all pulled their shock batons from their holsters.

Watching the bikers reach for their batons makes AM step up and close the final steps to Mato, her voice steady but unmistakably pointed.

“Why the violence?” she asks, just loud enough to make them listen. “He’s not lying. Not the whole truth, sure—but you don’t exactly create a space for honesty, do you? So how about it—are you going to tell us what this is really about? or are we lining up to compare dicks?” she says eying the batons with a half smirk.

She lets the silence hang for half a beat before continuing: “As for honesty, we went dark because you spooked us. Not the guns. Not the bikes. You. Now its your turn to say something real.”

Since the situation seems to be non-violent for now, Rachel quickly dresses in some illusionary clothes (pretty much what her Executive Suite looks like, that she left in Bellevue), as she only brought her gym clothes, expecting to buy a more suitable outfit at the Mall. In hindsight, she probably could have brought some more clothes, they do have a car after all, but she didn't expect to need it.



Stepping out of their car, she does not move to Mato's and AM's side, but stays near the vehicle, to have some cover to duck behind, if it should be needed.

"We are not Knight-Errant. We are private security. You hacked the traffic controls and you expect us to keep our gear online? Come on! That's security protocol 101. And you are not exactly an authority out here. That being said, we are both looking for something. Maybe we are not even on opposing sides here? How about we, you know, talk this through, and figure this out. We share some information with you, you share some information with us. And then we find a compromise that works for everyone. How does that sound?"

"Ah, you're wasting your breath," Mato says to nobody in paricular. "See the synchronization? They're not in charge of their thoughts, let alone their bodies."

To the goons he says directly, "I'm here because I was hired to be. You're here because some puppet master is pulling your strings. Who is it? I'll talk to them."

Another second went by, before the leader said:

"Positive match for Miguel Ángel Torres, Rachel Moore, 87% match for Amy Maka Green, members of Seattle Investigation Services.

You are receiving a warning: Desist from intervening in our affairs. You are accessing data not intended for you."

Synchronous, they put their weapons away again.

"There is no room for compromise. Should you continue, we will unearth compromat on you individually and as an organization. Already our crawlers have found traces of major irregularities.

Desist - this is your only warning."

At this moment, the billboard went dark, losing it's presence in the matrix completely.

"Yeah, fuck that! You are the ones out here breaking one law after the other. You must also be the ones that broke into the apartment in Bellevue. Put up all that surveillance gear that collected the data. This data right here. It was illegaly obtained and therefore does not belong to you at all. You might be able to erase your presence from the Matrix, but you won't be able to do that from our cameras, that are recording everything right now. Your presence is known. No more hiding. How long do you think it will take until a corporation will come into your little den and mess everything up, once they learn about you? Is that really what you want?"

At Mato's warning, Tamarind stayed calm and just took a few precautions. She ordered all of her drones and gear to go wireless off, unspooled the cable from her data jack and plugged into the van directly, and then told the van to go wireless off. She stays in AR, however. Then she turns on her burner link, which broadcasts one of her burner IDs, Jennifer Wolf, but is otherwise blank.

The implied threat to her drones puts her in a state of steely focus, ready to commit whatever violence might be necessary. But for now she resists the urgency of her heightened reflexes and other than readying her SMG she sits very still, waiting to see how the talking part goes.

Another second passed before the answer came: "You are offline. Your threat is meaningless. Any action against us will trigger full retaliation. You have been warned."

Once again, the three began moving at the exact same moment, heading back to their bikes, getting on them and driving away once traffic permitted.

"Well, looks like talking is not going to get us very far here..." Rachel comments as she gets back into the car.

Still astrally perceiving, Rachel says to Trouble. "Hey Trouble, can you tell AM, that it might be a good idea for you to follow them? Just an idea. But if you do, be very, very careful and keep your distance. Just to figure out where they are headed."

Once the bikers had departed, Tamarind re-booted the van, closed off her burner link, then gradually brought the essentials back online (leaving her drones powered down for the moment). Then she did a careful check of everything and everyone for marks, in case the Synchronized People circled back to leave marks.

Once all that was done, she thought to ask AM "Before they arrived, did you have time to download the observation data?"

Once that was confirmed she brings up the next topic "Do we continue to the pyramid now? If we do, should I make efforts to try and lose ourselves in traffic and confuse any camera based tailing they are doing? Or do we just go quickly? I will note that this van doesn't have any illegal, but useful, features like a license spoofer, modifiable plates, nor color changing, but it is pretty generic and there are tricks that one can use -- it is just that it is all pointless if they simply trace our IDs through the matrix."

Then she twitches and adds "Or I could send the van on a drive around, with my burner ID left inside, and we bail out somewhere without easy camera access, and hope that they are lazy enough to just focus on the van, especially if everyone runs backup IDs."

"We would also have to look different, since there will be cameras along the way. Plenty of them. But we should be able to do that."

Trouble meows once in response to Raven’s request, then drops to the floor and vanishes into thin air—slipping into the shadows to trail the bikers from a safe distance.

AM turns to face them, voice composed but coolly direct.
“Make it a full match, and call me AM if you need me.” She pauses just long enough to let it land, then continues:
“May I ask who we’re speaking to—and what exactly you’d prefer we not interfere in? You’re assuming a lot about how much we understand your interests. We’re not here to get in your way. And I’m not sure this is a zero-sum game.”

Meanwhile, she pings Tamarind with a quick update:
>> Got everything. Software kind of flopped—considering how fast they clocked us. Whatever this drop was, it mattered.

AM's questions remained unanswered, as the three drove away - apparently under the impression that their orders had been clear enough.

Trouble had no problem following them from the astral as they steadily drove north east, heading towards the northern bridge over Lake Washington towards Bellevue.

When Trouble reports AM seems a bit surprised "Trouble, says they are heading toward Bellevue out of all places..." she says. Not entirely sure if this is some powerplay or these creeps are actually based so close to home.

"Might be headed for the apartment, or our place even," Rachel ponders. "We will probably know soon."

"Damnit," Mato mutters to himself. "I was hoping to have someone to interrogate. I was thinking they would be rational actors, not puppets."

He supposes that it's a good thing that he didn't get into a fistfight in Downtown Seattle, but he had gotten his hopes up a bit.

Mato returns to the van.

"They could be going back to Diego's place. But if they were the ones who were there earlier, what kept them out of the basement? They wouldn't have had any issues with the maglocks. I wouldn't think that an astral barrier would stop them."

"If it is as you say, they are being controlled, that requires an active connection to the Matrix. Would a Jammer be useful? Do we even have one? Just thinking out loud here, I have no clue about how that stuff works."

"A cyberdeck can also be a very expensive jammer in a pinch but I can't just leave it on like that. "

"I have a jammer. Not the best that money can buy, but as good as you can get when you're just starting out.

"But it's capital-I illegal so it's not something we leave running. We have to use it selectively. Wireless on, it won't interfere with our gear, but it will be vulnerable to hacking. Wireless off, it will mess with us as much as them. But we might be willing to pay that price."

Tamarind adds "I can also jam, using the attack dongle, but the jamming power is limited by the quality of the dongle. It would be enough to take lower end devices offline, maybe even a lot of cyberware, but it wouldn't sever matrix connections for anybody with half decent gear or skills. Likely like the Synchro Triplets."

She hesitates, then continues "And I'm just thinking out loud here, we don't know that they are puppets. They could be more like cells in a collective intelligence, in such tight communication that they act as one. But if that is the case, interrupting their matrix connection might not hurt them that much, they could still act individually I'd presume. Maybe less confidently or competently, but we really don't know that."



She takes a moment to look at maps and think about where they could pull a transfer, and how to break their traceability.

"Like Rachel said, we could split up to be less easy to distinguish. And like Mato was mentioning we could go in through the Underground or through the route that Diego and team followed. What if we do both?"

"Rachel wanted to do some shopping in the mall. Me too, actually. She could do that along with one of AM or myself, then follow Diego's route. Two people should be easier to Mask, or use spirit concealment on, but it provides some matrix ability to hopefully handle any hacking needed. If I don't go I can give my list to her, easy enough to pick up an armoured vest and a spool of fiber-optic wire. And transcievers if anybody doesn't have one, those can still be messed up by jamming but over shorter ranges they function without using the matrix, just good old fashioned radio waves."

"The other two could go in through the underground, only needing enough concealment to not make it obvious that is what we are doing. That team could probably bring the larger weapons and perhaps Toothless too. And maybe Trouble could play courier between the two groups, to help coordinate."

"Of course two groups could mean twice the small-t-trouble and half the resources in each group. There are certainly arguments for staying together."

"Why not just go together as a group either through the mall or through the orc underground? What does the sophistication gives us? "

"A better chance to remain undetected," Rachel says.

"How about Tamarind and Rachel go shopping, as planned.

"AM and I hang back. AM monitors Trouble, who in turn monitors where the goons go. That keeps me and AM mobile in case we need to respond to something quickly while you're going through the mall. The mall is enormous and can take ages to walk from one place to another, so you're a bit stuck if you're on foot.

"Once the shopping is done and we're reasonably confident that the triplets aren't a clear and present danger, we could resume our insertion. I think staying together is the best bet. I think the Ork Underground is a valid entry point. I speak the language and look the part, so maybe that smooths out some possible points of friction."

"Okay, let's see. First we should probably just drive around a bit and see what Trouble can figure out about where they are headed. Depending on that, we might want to do something about it, or not. Then, if Tamarind and myself leave - hidden with invisibility spells - while we are at a place where cameras cannot see us, we could move away a bit, and I could then change the invisibility to a physical mask, before we make the trip to the Mall. Finally, we make our way towards the Underground entrance. Where was that again?"

Once they are all in the van again Tamarind heads for heavy traffic. There will almost certainly be similar vans in the traffic, if the other side are good this won't be a problem but it at least gives an opportunity for them to make a mistake. Or to simply get bored, monitoring a vehicle in heavy traffic is tedious, she knows; she doesn't know if the synchro-trio get bored, however. Also they might as well be moving while they make up their minds about what they are doing.

Once Thanee passes on her knowledge about the security situation, Tamarind admits "Aside from the ID I'm living under, my other IDs are just cheap burners. Well, not _cheap_ but as cheap as fake IDs get. I have money set aside, but we don't have enough time to line up something better. I'm pretty sure that if the synchro-trio checked me at all, it would only be under the burner ID that I activated as soon as AM passed on Trouble's assessment of them. We didn't seem to be on their radar at all until later. So ... I should be OK to use it in the mall? But I also wouldn't complain about going through the orc underground and avoiding that risk."

"I guess at this point it comes down to how badly we need to go shopping, could some of those items be picked up in the underground instead -- and can that contact actually get us into the arcology at a point where we can get by without showing ID? Who is going to reach out?"

"I don't need to go shopping, that I know off... what kind of equipment you thought to get?"

"Yeah, what are the need-to-haves and what are the nice-to-haves?" Mato asks Rachel, since she seems to have the longest shopping list.

He reaches out to Felicitas. <<We're exploring using the Underground as an insertion point. Can you make an introduction with Charlie?>>

"The most important item is an armor jacket, which should be no problem to get there, especially, since I would prefer it way oversized, anyways. Those armor augmentations from SecureTech seem like a decent way to add some extra armor, but if they don't have that, it won't be the end of the world. Micro-Transceivers for everyone should be a good idea, especially now. The rest is mostly climbing gear and lights. Oh, and something to use for preparations, ideally in small containers with drinkable liquid."

Felicitas responded directly: <<Way ahead of you - Charlie expects your visit. Address is attached. His shop gives access to the storm drains, leading about a km in directly to the underground mall. It's save enough there for tourists. For the way to the arcology his son Gruff will lead you - he is a Scraacha member and should be able to get you past the old fortifications.

I told them Diego will pick up the tab - good luck.>>

"This works for both direct and stealth -- we head to the Underground, which could be for any number of reasons, and eventually we get out of matrix coverage area. We don't even have to be subtle -- we could order ahead to the Big Rhino for some take out, drive over when it is ready, send the van home or to drive around, pick up the order on our way through there to the Underground, then give a couple of meals to our contacts as a tip, on top of whatever they'll collect from Diego." After a moment she adds "Or is that stereotyping too much, thinking orcs would like a meal from the Big Rhyno? I'd still like to pick something up, this sounds like it is going to take a long while, I'll be hungry, and I've been meaning to try out their food sometime."

"And yes, while down there we could likely pick up armour jackets for Rachel and myself -- or I'd even take a vest, I just want something that might be easier while climbing than this long coat."

Tamarind grabs the AR menu while she drives, and sends it to the rest of the team. "My suggestion, I'm happy enough to pay."

<<Gracias>> Mato responds to Felicitas.

"The food at The Big Rhino is good, no one really disputes that," he tells Tamarind. "However, some in the Underground consider it a tourist trap, or a place where smoothies go to slum it for a bit. That is to say, opinions are mixed. The locals are possessive, but also disdainful of it. They're proud of it, but will decry it as full of surfacers.

"They serve you huge steins of beer by default. I wouldn't suggest going there at two in the morning but mid-afternoon should be a reasonable risk. If you want to eat, just be prepared for big flavors. Lots of spice, lots of sauces, exotic things like snakes that only orks and trolls like. But ready yourself for some acid reflux.

"I wouldn't bring takeout to butter up contacts. They'll probably find it condescending. If you want to eat, I like the smoked sausage & sauerkraut croquettes. I also like the red beans and rice with the pickled okra. The crawfish etouffée is delicious but there's so much cayenne that you should stay away unless you want to breathe like a hellhound. Portions are huge, meant to fill up orks and trolls, so just one dish might be enough for all of us, two at most."

Checking out the address revealed indeed a small shop in an old industrial building near the harbor. "Charly's Bikes" screamed in neon red both in AR and the real world for attention of potential customers. Anyone entering was directly confronted by a mix of pawn shop like selection of gear and a garage with several partly assembled or disassembled choppers but also pedal powered bicycles.

The area inside was much larger than the relatively small exterior would have made you believe.

Behind the counter amidst the chaotic display a huge, beefy ork with one cyber eye and hand stood in a grimy jumpsuit. Charly had to be over forty, closer to fifty.

He looked expectantly at the newcomers entering his shop, but didn't commit to more than a greeting nod.

Tamarind looks around like a kid in a candy shop, wishing she had time to poke around and talk shop, she feels given a couple of hours she could get on the owner's good side. But given the schedule she settles for saying "Oh wow, this place is wonderful." and looking at what appears to be some sort of min-bike, which would be a perfect size to fit in the back of the van for quick mobility when having to leave the bigger vehicle.

Presumably the talky people will do their thing and handle quick introductions, so she let's herself just enjoy the environment for a bit.

"Skraa," Mato says, greeting Charly in Or'zet while stepping forward. Usually it is shouted, but given the quasi-legal nature of the undertaking Mato doesn't want to generate unnecessary attention. "I'm Mato; that's the rest of the crew.

"Felicitas says you are expecting us," he continues. His tone is respectful, perhaps in deference to Charly's age. Not many orks last that long. "We're looking for a way to the Arcology through the storm drains. She says that your son, Gruff, can lead us.

"Also, if there's a black or grey market along the way, we could use some odds and ends."

Mato decides that's enough for a start. Charly seems like someone who will appreciate being direct and to the point. Out of professional interest, Mato glances over Charly's cybereye and cyberhand.

When AM enters, she slings her tactical bag over one shoulder and keeps her stride casual. The armored jacket goes on over her street clothes, sturdy plasteel-toe boots included. But she leaves the PPP system, forearm guards, helmet, and her Walther stashed neatly in the bag.

Inside, she’ll suit up fully. But for now?
Low profile.

The old armor jacket looks almost tailored to her - even though it’s a man’s cut. She’s used to that. She could reshape it with a fashion spell anytime she wants, but she hasn’t. The jacket stays exactly as it is, since it is the only thing she has left from Beaver. A man she almost married for all the wrong reasons, and a year later it all seems as if it happened to someone else.

She glances around, takes in the pawn shop vibe.

“Seems like a good place to pimp my Mirage, if I ever take street racing seriously...

Or like a good place to go looking for it if it is ever stolen.”
That’s second sentence is in a lower tone mostly to herself, the kind of musing you don’t really expect an answer to.


She looks over at Tamarind and can't help the flicker of thought: "I wish someone would ever look at me with the same passion Tamarind looks at that small bike." Then to Mato and Charlie. She chimes in "Though, I think the girls also want to do some quick shopping." she adds, casually, almost as an afterthought. A slight tilt of her voice distances herself from “the girls.” Shopping isn’t her thing. Never was.

Charly nodded, in a rough, almost painfully hoarse voice he replied:
"Come. He's waiting.

Mato recognized the cyberware as rather old and rudimentary gear - likely more than 30 years old - and even back then it was cheap gear, given out most likely as part of an insurance pay out. Together with the scarred voice, and now that he looked for it, the scarred neck, he guessed Charly ran afoul of a lynch mob during one of the pogroms 45 years ago.

Following the old ork, the team found a backroom even more cluttered than the front. Though there is a method to this madness: to the press of a concealed button, a hydraulic system lifted a pile of scrap and revealed a trap door in the oil stained concrete floor.

Charly didn't follow, merely opened the door, revealing a steep ladder to the underground.

Down there awaited an ork in his thirties, sitting relaxed on an age-old sofa, amusing himself with an ancient hand held gaming system.

As the team descended, the ork got up, carelessly tossing the system onto the sofa.

"So, you are the tourists then. Come on, let's go. I'll take you to the Bazar. After that it's a bit trickier, but my colors should get us through."

He indicated towards his brown and green synth leather outfit, indicating his gang affiliation.

Tamarind had left Toothless in the van, along with Stitch and the Peliper which hadn't been on patrol. With a touch of reluctance she tells those drones to behave, and gives the van instructions to loop up around the Space Needle, back to an electronics store she vaguely recalls near SeaTac, then finally back to the house in Bellevue -- but not to start until she tells it to. (While the gekko-tip tracks on Toothless can handle a lot, she didn't trust the gecko-tips to handle a vertical shaft.)

She leaves the mini-bike for possibly another time, does a last check on Beauty and her Flying Eye and Kanmushi drones, adjusts the bag with her weapons, Kaa (her snake drone), and the fancy flying drone that the team had picked back up at the billboard.

She comments to Gruff "We'll probably want to pick up a few things at the Bazaar. If you know vendors for a couple of armour jackets, and maybe some climbing gear, then hopefully you can make both them and us happy by bringing us together."

Mato goes and grabs his duffle bags from the van. He takes off his armor jacket and hands it to Rachel, leaving him in a muscle shirt.

"Here," he says. "Baggy, like you like it. I'll wear the Wild Hunt.

"I want that back, though! It's a good jacket."

And it set me back four grand, he thinks to himself.

He follows Charly, studying the scars.

Night of Rage? That was forty years ago. Great Spirit, he would have only been a kid. A surge of anger flares up in Mato's chest. He's not prone to strong emotions, but the injustice of it - and the cruelty toward a child - makes him burn deep inside.

Charly's so old that even his son is older than Mato, which is an unusual experience for him. There aren't a lot of ork elders in the community.

"We'll follow your lead," he tells Gruff, although it feels like a statement of the obvious.

Rachel probably looks a little out of place in her gym clothes, but to be fair, she did plan to go to the Mall not into the Underground, initially. And she needed something that she can easily wear underneath.

She looks around, mostly focusing on the bicycles. Something like that could be fun to ride around the neighorhood. Maybe on the way back she can think about it.

When Mato offers her the armor jacket, she shakes her head. "Not baggy, just enough material."

"When I am done with it, you won't fit into it, anymore," she says, smirking slightly.

"I mean, I can probably change it back, but it won't be exactly the same. Either way, should be no problem to find one down here at that bazaar. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Maybe I am lucky, and they have one in real leather. But I will settle for synthetic, if that's the only option. Black or dark brown should be easy enough to find."

Mato offers the jacket to Tamarind instead.

"Good protection, if you want it. I'm probably going to wear the Wild Hunt and I'd rather not leave the jacket stashed behind, just in case we exfil a different way than we infil.

"Up to you."

"I might end up looking like someone's crazy mother in scavenged armour, but I'll wear it happily."

She spends a couple of minutes making sure that she has everything out of her long coat and transfered over to the armour jacket, then stashes the long coat in the van. "Hopefully everything in there will be safe; none of the drones inside are armed. I really should look into security systems or drones for the van."

When she is done and puts on Mato's jacket, indeed the sleeves are long as is the body. She goes rummaging through the van and comes out with a couple of large cable ties, folds back the sleeves then uses the cable ties to hold those cuffs in place. "Good enough."

Once they are all ready she sends the van on its way and heads down the ladder.

AM looks at Gruff's colors and tries to search her thoughts if she knows which gang it is. Gruff right? what kind of games do you like? That console seemed very retro. she says.

AM earned herself a somewhat scornful glare. Though he relented a bit when he realized the question wasn't meant to mock him.
Instead he shrugged: "Just an old fighting game my Pa used to play. Haven't yet managed to beat his score.
You all, get a move on. It's a bit and a half through the storm drains. Lucky it's not raining"



Meanwhile, trouble had followed the bikers out to the eastern part of Seattle where they vanished into an old industrial building going underground.