"may I ask what this is about?" as he speaks adjusts his bag on his back, brining the opening closer to his side.

The officer's hand falls on his sidearm. "Drop the bag. Turn around. Put your hands on the car. Now!"

A few people have stopped to check things out. The other officer that was in line is making his way over now, his sidearm is already drawn. Two officers get out of each of the cars across the street and start to move in your direction.

According to Grizzly it should be this building...
Jaws looks around to find the darkest spot he could find. He goes there and casts two spells. Now invisible to mundane eyes, Jaws slowly levitates to reach the rendez-vous point. He looks around to see if everything is safe and then drops the spell to meet Grizzly in person.

"Hey Grizzly, nice spot... can we see the intersection of Walnut and 10th from up here?" he says looking down from the roof, trying to figure out where the streets should be.

Gun draws his bag in close and takes off in a flash, attempting to make a run for it. People on the street jump out of the way as the bulk of a man barrels down on them.

The officers that just got out of their car curse and jump back into them, ready to chase the runner down. The other two officers give chase on foot as best they can.

In the next instant Gun sees what he was looking for, that alley to take cover in. As he runs he pulls out his AK-97, preping for action.

The officer that is giving chase halts at seeing the gun, takes aim with his Thunderbolt and *BAM*BAM*BAM*, puts three very large holes in the back of Gun's head.

Stamping her feet to get the worst of the snow off her boots, Sydney holds the door open as Sahara walks into the dealership. They both pull their coats off and drape them over their left arms, habits still hardwired. Used to the entrance that the changelings make, Syd moves to the first salesman she finds and takes his hand in a friendly but firm manner.

"Good morning, my friend and I are looking for a car. Something that will handle well in all weather conditions and seats five comfortably. What would you suggest?"

The two women proceed to spend the next few hours looking at cars, taking test drives, and finally picking one that suits them well. Paper work for the title transfer is being filled out as they receive the phone call from Darien.

Grizzly sends a message to Jaws telepathically, "I'm over here, should stay invis if you can.", he sends an image of his location, "Take a look at that alley astrally", he continues telepathically, "Something dark there, I bet there's a background count of 4 there, that's our location. It's just off of Walnut, 10th being half a block up the road to the left."

He waits for Jaws to acknowledge seeing the view.

Jaws make a sign as to say that he understands what Grizzly is saying and stays invisible.
"Okay, I see it. This is what we're gonna investigate first. We should probably take a look during day time first, that way we won't have bad surprises this evening. If the background count is too high, we could decide to cleanse it too, and that should be done right now. You want to go take a look while we're still invisible and levitating ?"

"I don't want to give warning. Background count being changed could indeed let him know he's being hunted. Just as dropping in there now could, after all, we all leave signatures. Let's assense as much as we can now, and see what we can come up with. If his Astral Signature is there, your ability to travel the Astral Plane can be used to locate his exact location. Just like we use to do as LoneStar, crime is commited, we look at the signature, then comb the city for a location/person with that same signature. My guess is that he's within the neighborhood here itself. Careful though if you do the projection, watch out for wards and barriers. They may be deadish, but not neccessarily stupid.", Grizzly replies over the Mindlink connection he has with Jaws.

The night was alive with cold neon and a bitter wind, cars slushing through the wintery streets. Shark hovered in the shadows, drinking in the city. He could feel the heartbeats of the few pedestrians shuffling down the street, he could smell the breath of the squatters hunched over the flickering warmth from a trashcan fire, his blood sang with the enervant sixty hertz hum from the powerlines strung overhead. The city was his ocean and he was its predator.

Glancing up and down the street, he cleared himself of surveillance visually, pausing to give Hopps an all clear. The bodyguard nodded from his post, covering the street as Shark crossed to the rundown apartment building. The door swung open to his touch and he moved quickly inside, eyes sifting through the dim interior for a threat. The wallpaper was a sickly, faded green, covered with layers of graffiti. Large sections had peeled back, revealing the water-stained plastic beneath. Shark ghosted up the stairs, balance forward, body alert. Noises reached him: a couple arguing, a man sobbing, some trid show blasting loudly in Japanese. The apartment he sought was on the third floor, at the end of the corridor. He rapped smartly on the door, stepping back to give a full view of himself through the peephole.

"What you want, slitch?" The voice was harsh and grating, a mere snarl.

"I need some flesh, Omae. I heard you had a sweetmeat to offer." Shark felt cold, but kept his voice level, loud enough to be heard through the door. Seconds passed before three deadbolts were thrown. The young man revealed watched him through eyes as hard as the barrel of the Mossberg he held in his hands. His dark hair was cornrowed, but his skin was light enough that he could have been any one of a dozen ethnicities, assuming that he wasn't some kind of exotic mix. Shark didn't move, his hands held open and slightly away from his sides.

"Who says?"

"Beach."

The man snorted, but set the Mossberg back on its rack by the door. He motioned for Shark to come inside.

"Stupid fragger. Yeah, I got's me a little filly. She's a fun ride. How long you want?"

Stepping inside and closing the door softly behind himself, Shark held up a certified credstick so that his host could read the four illuminated digits.

"How long will this buy me?" He watched with icy satisfaction as the man licked his lips, mentally calculating how much Burn he could buy with the money. His hand snaked out and plucked the credstick from Shark's hand.

"I, ah, I tell you what, mister. Why don't you just step inside and enjoy yourself and I'll knock when your time is up. Name's Koz, by the way. Just yell if you need sumpin'." He grinned in a friendly way, just a couple of guys enjoying themselves. Shark felt the red haze begin to boil at the edges of his vision.

"Thanks." He opened the thin bedroom door, stepping through quickly and closing it softly behind him. The room reeked of cheap air freshner, sex, and vomit. A vanity cluttered with dimestore cosmetics huddled in the corner, while a five drawer dresser blocked most of the room's only window. A queensize bed dominated the remainig space in room, but dwarfed the wisp of a girl lying facedown on its grimy sheets. Shark knew she was seventeen, but she looked no older than fourteen. Her short brunette hair was matted and tangled, and her naked skin had a vaguely yellowish tint in the dim light. At least those patches that didn't show angry purple bruises. She was painfully thin, malnourishment brought on not only by her addiction but her choice of caretakers. Shark knelt by the bed, and combed the girl's tresses away from her face. Her eyes flickered open, pupils glossy and dilated. She moaned softly before catching herself.

"Oh, baby," she whispered, and her breath was fetid. Shark could see where the drugs had begun to stain her teeth. "Didja come to play with Candy?" Shark smiled, reaching into his coat pocket and withdrawing a pair of compressed air subdermal injectors. The girl's eyes continued to try and focus on him as her mouth worked, her mind struggling to draw forth the learned phrases that would entice him to use her body and earn her another fix. He ignored her, placing the first injector against the base of her neck and triggering it. The tranquilizer took effect almost immediately, her body going limp. He set the second one in place and injected that as well. It was a synthetic amphetamine designed to begin to break the chemical dependencies built up by her body. Standing, he took off his long coat, draping it over the girl before stepping out into the front room again.

Koz looked up in some surprise at his appearance, turning from where he was speaking in low tones to the tridphone handset.

"Sumpin' wrong?"

"No. Everything is the way it should be. Well, almost." Shark smiled. Koz looked at him with dawning comprehension. He dove for the Mossberg by the door, but Shark was ready for it. He met the dealer's hasty rush midway across the floor, slamming his right hand down clawlike into the hollow of his collarbone while his left grabbed a handful of shirt. Shark felt the bone break against the fulcrum of his hand as he planted his feet and spun. Carried by his own momentum as well as Shark's unnatural strength, Koz left the ground with a cry, smashing into the entertainment center. He struggled to rise, his right arm held rigid against his body. Shark grabbed the back of his neck and hauled him up, throwing him forward against the wall and following with a quick series of jabs to his kidneys. Koz screamed in pain, slashing behind him with his left elbow. Shark went under the blow, punching up into Koz's diaphragm, driving the air in his lungs out with a strangled cry. As he doubled over in pain, Shark stood and flung his head back, catching Koz on the chin. Teeth splintered in a spray of blood and enamel. Shock vibrated through Koz, and he made inarticulate noises as his eyes rolled wildly. Shark fired off two more punches, breaking ribs, before crushing his opponent's larynx with the hard edge of his elbow. As the body slid down the wall, its last breath caught in the wreckage of its throat, Shark inhaled deeply, savoring the taste, the bitter reek of combat. It filled him with power, sated a hunger he still could not reconcile himself with. Tears spilled out onto his cheeks. Ignoring them, he picked up the handset from where Koz dropped it. He listened for a moment to make sure that the caller was still on the line before speaking.

"You're next."

Disconnecting the call, he dialed 911 and waited for the system to pick up.

"911 emergency services, how may I assist you?"

"Send an ambulance. The little girl needs help."

Dropping the phone on the floor, he walked out of the apartment and disappeared into the night.

'Hey Darien, yeah whats up."

She listened patiently as Darien relayed his story.

"Livewire huh, yeah we can be there," she paused and looked to Syd for a time.

"An hour maybe? Yeah an hour, ok see you there."

"Alright. See you there then." Disconnecting, Darien waited long enough that he would be able to a couple minutes before the appointed hour. As this was to be more of a diplomatic mission, he left his rifle behind, in favor of the predator, holstered under his jacket.

The sun falls and night settles on Seattle. Its almost as if the city comes to life more at night than it does durring the day and for many of you, it really does. Grizzly and Jaws keep watch over the alley, which for the moment is quiet, though the leftover terror within is enough to keep them on their toes.

Club Livewire is just getting started. As you wait in live, the heavy techno bass can be heard thumping the streets outside. Darien is first to arrive and is let inside with a few strange looks. Once inside, he can see that he isn't exactly dressed to fit in. Everyone is wearing neon and day-glo colors. The place is flooded with black lights with the mirrored globe in the roof glittering spots of light all around. Sydney and Sahara are let inside, but surprisingly enough, the club has a high number of those effected by SURGE. Two ladies spot Darien at the bar, nursing his drink.

Noting that he was the oddball out, Darien had pause to reflect checking the dress code on the place he was going next time. Not exactly a good idea to stand out when you're trying to be subtle. But as he waited on Sahara and Sydney, he took the time to glance around, seeing if he could spot Jack. When the ladies arrived, he waved them over.

"Agreed, even though I don't think there is that much risk in doing that, we're never too careful, thanks. You're always there to think about all these details, thanks Grizzly.

"If you think it's sufficiently secure to do so, I will go in the astral to check it out a little bit and look for signatures now. You can watch over my body while I'm doing that, I should not be very long, like only a few seconds."

If he receives no objection, Jaws lies down in a dark covered spot on the roof. As his body appears in the physical world, his mind wanders out of it to fly freely in the astral realm.

Grizzly keeps eye over the corpse of Jaws, allowing him the freedom of sniffing things out on the Astral side of things. Noticing it's a few hours before dark, he begins to wonder where the rest of the team is, being late for a job is never a good sign.

Rolling down the street in the new SUV was a great feeling for Sydney. She had never owned a new car, all her previous vehicles had either been used or borrowed from a friend. The hour between Sahara's phonecall and arriving at Club LiveWire had passed in a blur of cloth and snow.

Taking the valet option, both women walked into the club wearing outfits that while they weren't nearly as garishly colored as most patrons wouldn't stand out too badly. Walking across to the bar where Darien was seated, Syd's french manicured claws glow with the blacklight illumination.

Leaning against the bar, the pseudo-vamp runs her tongue across her lips to moisten them as she turns to look over the crowd.

"Hey," Sahara nods to the decker.

"So, whats the four-one-one?"

"When I followed up on those disconnected LTGs, I traced the disconnect order to a fellow called Jack. Hangs out here. Figured I could use the backup. And perhaps if he doesn't want to talk to me, he'll talk to you two ladies..."

"Do we have any idea what he looks like?"

"Nope. I just know he tends to hang out around here. Figure the bartender would know." Waving the bartender over, he asked "You wouldn't by any chance know of a fellow by the name of Jacks around here, would you?"

Darien

The bartender uses a white cloth to wipe down the bar in front of him, "I guess that depends on who's askin'."

Jaws

The normal wash of urban astral space washes over you. Taking a look around it is easy to spot the alley that was pointed out to you.

"One who, if my information is correct, shares a mutual acquaintance." Darien answered.

The bartender rolls his eyes and leans on his elbows, "Maybe I didn't make myself clear. You give me a hundred cred, I tell ya what you want."

A small smile flickers over his face.

"Ah...I see we have a fellow acquaintance as well...namely Mr Nuyen." Darien commented as he handed over the requested funds. "So about Jacks..."

"Right over there." The points with one hand as he picks up the funds with the other.

The man he points too is seated at a booth in the back corner with a woman on each side of him. He blends right into the crowd with spiked red hair and neon latex clothing.

"Thanks." Darien said, glancing at the indicated person. Then turning back to his party, "So there's Jacks...now how best to approach this...oh, on another topic, might help to give Jaws a ring to let him know why we aren't at the attack site."

With that, he gave Jaws a call. "Hey, it's Darien. I'm in the process of following up a lead on the LTGs. The girls are with me, to let you know why we're late."

As usual, the first thing Jaws does when he awakes in astral form is to see his body lying unconscious in the physical world. Without losing any time, he flies off to verify first if there is anything threatening in the surroundings, and then goes in the direction of the dark alley.

"So," Sahara says over the music, "how do you want to handle this, beat it out of him or pay it out of him?"

"Hmm...answering machine" Oh well...at least Jaws would know where they were once he got the message. Hopefully this visit would bear fruit. "I've always found that you can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. If diplomacy fails, there's always that other alternative."

"Good kitty, bad kitty?" A broad smile works across Sydney's face, her fangs glistening under the flashing lights.

"Sahara you can sidle up next to him, Darien and I'll go across from him. If he plays nice, we're nice. If not, I can exert some subtle pressure under the table. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan. He won't know what hit him."

"Alright then...let operation Tale of Two Kitties commence." Darien said, heading over towards Jacks's table. "Jacks, I presume?"

Jacks already has a lady on each arm and it takes a moment for him to look up from the bulging cleavage of the girl on his left. His eyes are a bit bloodshot and his voice is slightly slurred, "Who's askin'?"

"Name's Darien. Was looking up what I'm presuming to be a mutual acquaintance, and your name came up."

"Frag off, I'm busy" is all you get as he turns back to his lady cohorts and becomes lost once again. The one he turns too smiles welcomingly, giving you the idea shes a pro. The other watches the three of you a bit nervously.

As per the plan, Sahara slides luxuriously into the booth next to Jacks. Sydney and her male escort sit across from him.

"We just need to find someone."

Sydney trails the toe of her shoe up the man's calf.

"It won't take that long, and then we can have some fun."

Running her foot, down the length of his thigh, the sole comes to rest gently over his softer bits.

Sahara poors herself into the space next to the man, bruskly shoving his current female companion out of the way. She runs one finger down the side of his face and then starts playing with his neck. She is sure to give him a good 'view' while leaning in.

Jaws

Rushing down into the alley serves to be a very ugly experiance. The heavy background count sufficates you in its terrible emotions. Hunger and fear wash over you like filth. You gaze around and try to make out auras, but the background is just too thick. You do however, see that there is a manhole in the rear of the alley and the background count continues down into it...

Jaws is momentarily tormented with a mixture of conflicting memories and emotions until he gets used to the unsually unfriendly astral nature of this place. Once recovered, Jaws sees the manhole and understands its significance. He approaches it carefully, quickly passing by it and searching for astral wards and barriers, reluctant to go into it.

Going back to the roof to look for his body, Jaws thinks about what he's seen. It takes a great evil to warp the substance of etherealness in such a way. With the help of my team, we shall vanquish the terrible creature and cleanse this place of its unnatural aura. For you, Father, and for the sake of our kind.

Jaws opens his eyes and is instantly conscious and ready, unlike one who simply wakes up. Getting up he tells Grizzly: "I found a manhole from which the vampire probably lurks out to attack its victims. The background count is quite high in there and it comes from the manhole. Gosh, at first it was almost unbearable, I can't wait to get rid of whoever took actions so terrible as to cause this. We need to tell the others."

Grizzly humms gently, giving away his location to anyone within extremely close hearing range. "Hmmmmmm This is good to know, it means we don't have to give away our entry by storming a small alley. Lets get maps of the drainage areas here, and see if we can't locate some old underground rooms that might be in the vicinity. We'll also need a different entry point, so as to enter its domain without being incredibly obvious about it. I'm not sure, but I think your phone was buzzing, you might have missed a call. Which of our team would be best for getting the maps?", Grizzly continues the conversation with the MindLink established.

Jacks squirms uncomfortably in the booth. "Hey look, I don't know nothin', alright?"

"You don't even know who we're looking for. All we need to know is where to find someone, help us out and we've leave you to your ladies. But if you keep telling us you don't know anything, well..." Sydney applies gentle pressure with her foot to wordlessly explain the weight of the situation. Easing up, she tilts her head to Darien.

"Now answer the man's questions. Please."

Jacks swallows hard and looks over to Darien, waiting to find out what hes got himself into.

"We're looking for a courier by the name of Shark. Tracing his deleted LTG, I came upon your voicemail, which leads to an assumption that you have some connection with him..." Darien said, mentally reminding himself once more never to get the ladies mad at him.

Jacks shrugs, "Look man, I do lots of work. Deleting an LTG ain't nothin'. It could have been one in a hundred."

"We're asking you to think harder."

"Jacks, you seem like a nice enough guy though you aren't very bright..." Sydney applies a sharp pressure with her foot for about a second and a half and then backs off a little.
"Now let's try that again, Darien."

"Uhh...", he glances sideways at the girls, sighs, and says, "Can you give me the number? A lot of gigs come to me through my middle man. Maybe I'll know the number, maybe not."

::gives him the number, and the one belonging to Hopps::