"I'm terrified that I'm going to have to kill someone again. I hope I'm wrong, but Shark just comes off as the type that won't be taken easily."

Syd pulls her coat tight, tying the waist closed.

"Alright, let's head down and see what we can find at the Doc's office. Maybe he's heard of this guy through professional circles."

"Sounds like a plan, you think I should call Dan?" She said as they walked through the snow.

Sahara was torn on calling her former partner. Talking to him again would be incredible, but after she left the force they hadn't spoken much. Not that he hadn't tried, but she had pushed him away.

"Well the good news is, if he is a vamp, then he's already dead and you wont have to kill him."

"We'll all meet tonight and go corner 10th and Walnut. Until then, let's gather as much info as we can on our target."
Putting on his coat, Jaws wishes luck to everyone and gets out of the cafe.

Okay, first I have to go home and talk about this with the guys.

Gun nods his head at Jaws's orders. "I'll be there a little early in full set up, do you want me in a support position, or ready to cut our way in?"

Grizzly finishes his 2nd breakfast, and heads out, paying his share of the tab on the way. Scratching his head in comtemplation, he starts walking over to 10th and Walnut. As he walks, he puts a call out to a friend in the LoneStar force, to get some 411 on the missing person. He then calls another friend in the force to find out what sort of calls they've had in that area, and what info he can get on any missing persons investigations in the area. Then he calls his ex partner, who is still on the Star payroll to get some Intel on any Missing persons reports that are 'interesting', in addition he asks this Buddy about any HMHVV reports in the local area of 10th and Walnut. By the time he arrives at his destination, he hopes to have as much info as he can get.

"Shark? Yeah, I've heard of him. Data runner, right? I'll get back to you on that LTG."

"Man, we have missing persons all over the place. You can come down and search through all the files we've got, but that should keep ya busy for days."

Your Forensics buddy seems to come through though...

"What makes you bring that up? Cause yeah, I've had a few interesting bodies come in from that area lately. Bite marks and blood drained, that kind of drek. I've had bodies coming in from all over, but that just means they are being dumped. A few bums, but... man, I've been getting a couple kids too. Teens ripe from the clubs and drek like that. I'd hate to be the ones to talk to the parents about this stuff."

Jacking himself into his Psec Gun loads the numbers for his contacts from his headware memory onto the screen of the Psec. Quickly calling up George first he begins his search.

"Hey, George. It's Gun. I need as much info as you can give me on three things, a man named Shark, the intersection of 10th and Walnut, and any recent reports of Vamps that you've got."

after his brief call with George Gun calls up Squall, his decker buddy.

speaking quickly in a combination of spanish and English Gun asks about the area "HeySquall, I need you to do a trix search on any recent Vamp attacks in the Area of 10th and Walnut, and I'd like you to do a wide search for extra info about one Mr. Shark, where he'd head to if he was hurt and anything else of the like. Thanks man."

as soon as he's done he reloads the contact info on his Headware, and cleans out the info from the Psec.

George replies, "Give me a few to look into it and I'll get back to you."

Squall comes back, "Hey man, that drek takes time and time is money. How much you gunna put out and how deep do you want me to go? Keeping in mind that the second makes it harder on the first. Granted, we're buds, so I'll go easy on ya, but a guys gotta put food on the table."

Gun mentally slaps himself in the face, after looking quite stupid.
"I know pal, how about you go as deep as you can before hitting 500 and call me back and I'll firgure out if I need you to go much deeper. Thanks ahead of time, I know you do the best work, I'll talk to you later."

"Check." The line goes dead.

The battle plan decided, Darien headed home to do his research. On the way, he gave Phoenix a call.

"Hey, Kat."

"Darien? How's life when you're dead?"

"Boring for the most part. How's Danny and Giz?"

"Daniel seems to be taking it well, but no telling what he's hiding under that outer shell of his. He went walkabout shortly after your death. Shaman stuff, I guess."

"And Giz?"

"She's taking it hard. Been seeking out the harder missions. I think she hopes that one of these times she won't come back. Reminds me of when I first met her..."

"I know the feeling...I just wish there was a way to make things better..."

"It is better for her if you stay dead. The Azzies, and whoever else that was think each other have the data, and will leave us alone."

"And if they figure out that neither of them have the data?"

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes. Anyways...this a social call or you looking for something?"

"Who me? Call only when I want something?"

"Yes you. So spill it."

"My friends and I have a bounty on a courier by the name of Shark. He and his bodyguards were attacked at the intersection of 10th and Maple. One of the bodyguards came back, saying something about vampires. Shark and the other bodyguard, Hopps, have vanished. Other than some LTGs that I plan to look into shortly, that's all we got. Was wondering if you knew anything about them, or knew someone who did. "

Heading home Gun began creating a mental checklist of stuff to grab before heading over to the redevous, and thinking about where he could change and not look like an Azzie Security Guard.

Sahara nods to Syd as she pulls out her cell. The phone nimber is at the top of th elist as she scrolls down.

"Hey." Pause.

"Yeah, I know it's been a while."

Another pause.

"Uhm so I was hoping you could help me out," she then shares with him the data they had and asks if he could find out anything else for her.

"Yeah. Its been a while. You don't return my calls until you need help, is that it? Drek. Whatever. I'll look into it. I guess at least this time you'll pick up the phone next time I call you back." His voice comes off more like his feels are hurt than angery.

Syd kept walking, keeping enough space between her and Sahara not to be prying but still close enough if she needed the support. They trekked down a few blocks and cut across the park, staying near the trees where the snow had built up less from the recent storm.

Arriving eventually at one of the coffeehouses that the Lonestar patrols favored, the two changelings went inside. A few people stared and gawked, but most of the regulars recognized them and called out greetings. Sydney sat down with her back to the crowd, allowing her friend to keep up on her cop instincts and watch the room for trouble. Ordering a non-fat mocha for herself and a latte for Sahara, the woman kept herself occuppied by watching the auras of people shifting around her.

"Listen it's been rough. After this is over maybe we can get a cup of coffee or something. Thanks Dan. Bye."

"He'll call when he has something. What next?" She said to her partner.

"Before you hang up. One more question. Why haven't you called me?"

When he got home, Darien settled in for a day of searching the Matrix. As he was forming his querries, his mind was once more drawn towards old times. Setting his queries aside he headed for the matrix bar that had been one of his favorite haunts. The pleasures of the matrix...being able to meet new people and get drunk, all from the comfort of your own home.

Getting drunk wasn't the plan for the day. Taking a seat in the corner, he was able to take a look around. The clientel being mostly nocturnal, the place was all but deserted. Jean Grey stood at the bar, but didn't ask him if he wanted anything. If he didn't know better, he'd say that she really was a mind reader. Taking a seat in the corner, he joined Wolverine in filling the place with a brooding silence.

Though those present, including his own Gambit icon, were all X-men, as the day progressed, comic book afficionados of all genres would be coming in and out. It was risky coming here, where it was quite likely that someone would recognize him. But if all else failed, he could be the new guy who didn't know enough to show respect for the dead. Not that he was particularly keen on lying to old friends. But he had even older ones to protect. He was laying out his search pattern in the form of a game of solitare, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Star?"

"Huh?" Darien started, turning to see Spiderman standing next to him.

"Thought so...don't try the newbie trick." he said, turning over the next card to reveal the shooting star that was his calling card. "So how's life when you're dead?"

"It has it's moments."

"We've missed you, though you've had your reasons for staying away."

"How were you so sure it was me?"

"Who do you think your sister called to put your paper trail in order?" Spiderman asked. He indicated towards Wolverine. "Think he was a lawyer at one point. What he does with legal documents is sweet."

"I thought he hated me..."

"He does. But for whatever reasons, he hates the Azzies more. Continue to annoy them, and he'll continue to watch your back."

"Mabey it wasn't a good idea to come here..."

"Worried about people looking for you? We've booted those who come asking questions. We look out for our own. So...what you working on?"

"Been bounty hunting of late. Trying to track down a courier who goes by the name of Shark. Got his name, the name of one of his bodyguard, Hopps, deactivated LTGs, and an attack location...not much to go off of. Got any free time on your hands?"

Sphynx

It doesn't take long to notice that one alley stands out from the rest. It is seething with violence and horror...

Everyone else

Looks like its time to sit back and wait to see what your people can come up with...

Jaws takes a cab down to North Pole Talismongering shop and enters the small store from the front.

"Hey Jaws !! Nice to see you. What brings you here today?"

"Hi Polar, I just dropped by to say hi and ..."

"Great, do you want a cup of tea?"

"Sure but listen, I'm looking for a guy that has most probably been attacked by vampires, and I wish to get rid of the viral threat once more. For now, I just want to find out as much as I can about it. Have you heard anything strange going on in the area of Walnut and 10th ? Also, by any chance, would you know about a guy named Shark or another one named Hopps??"

***************

Back home, Jaws tells all the details to the three guys who have become his family.
"Now that you know about the job that my team's been offered, you won't be surprised that I plan , in the name of Our Dear Father, to hunt down and kill the vampire (or vampires) of Tacoma and look for one of their victims, Shark. Have you heard of any incidents or stories about this area or about vampire attacks lately? If so, it would really help out."

Shadow

Dan just says, "Sure. I'll get in touch", then the line goes dead.

Jaws

Polar shakes his head, "Sorry my friend, those really aren't my areas of knowledge. I wish I could help ya..."

back at home...

One of the members of your group pipes up, "Yeah, I heard of that guy. Shark... Back in the day I used him to move some data for me, the guy was a real pro, he knew his stuff. I can't really tell you much more than that though, sorry man."

Syd sips her mocha waiting for the phone call to be over. She could sense the pain and sorrow in her friend's aura but was doing her best not to watch it, feeling it was just as rude as eavesdropping on the call.

She pulled out her text pager and sent a message to Koji. The Night One was one of the best when it came to crushing IC and running systems hotter than the Sun. Even if he didn't do data crawls he'd know someone who could.

Friend looking for info. 2 LTGs, inactive, looking for data trail.

He'd get back to her in his own time and give her the price for the info.

Sahara put the fone down and grasped her mug of soycocco. She sat there for a few minutes composing herself and fighting back the tears she was afraid would come.

Ok focus.

"Anything from your angle," she said suddenly.

"Nothing yet. I sent a message to Koji to see what he can scavenge in the matrix. I could give The Suit a call, but this doesn't seem to be his area."

Sydney extends her hand across the table.

"He'll understand in time, and Dan is still around. I will never find out how Etienne would have taken my change."

In the afternoon, Jaws browses online libraries to make sure his knowledge of past vampires and present day HMHVV infected metahumans is up to date and accurate. He also rereads his notes about the first vampire he destroyed, with the help of Grizzly.

"Damn vampires... I hope there was a cure to the virus..." he grumbles while on the matrix.

"I'm sorry Sydney, here I am wheeping in my cocco and I should be the one being strong. Damn sometimes I wonder if Haley didn't just change my skin. I don't even feel like me anymore."

"Sahara, you don't have to be strong, just be you. She changed a lot of us, made us who we were meant to be I think. Now, now we just have to understand what that is. C'mon, let's get moving, we can stroll down the lost trail of could've would've after Shark is found."

Rising, Sydney offers her hand to her friend and leads her out of the coffeehouse. Back on the street, the cold wind blows through her hair, stripping away the remorse and sadness that she didn't have time to feel quite yet.

"What do you think about a car? Something with a strong heater and snow tires, your bike just isn't meant for winters in Seattle."

The corporate-trained woman draws gloves over her manicured claws and then hails a taxi.

"Nissan dealership on Adams, please."

Looking wouldn't hurt anything...

Grizzly takes a couple of breaks as he continues to keep a stakeout on the Alley, hitting the local burger joint a few times for a burger or 5. He's always hungry when he's either nervous or calm. Finding a place where he can easily look down the alley, Grizzly gives Jaws a quick ring (Transducer/PocketSecretary). Finding the line busy, he leaves a message.

"Jaws, have the team meet up at <insert address of building>, roof top when it's time. Make sure to find a stealthy approach that doesn't require going up either street of that intersection. There's a very interesting view here from the Astral, I think we hit paydirt. Also, might wanna check to see what other people are possible victims, we can milk this out a bit for some extra cash if we do this right. I'm betting there's going to be more than one reward for missing persons that could come our way, in addition to gratuity for resolving any bizzare deaths that were related, of course. Anyhows, see you tonight, Grizzly out."

Collecting his various materials Gun suits up in his Sec armor. Placing the Helmet, his AK, with the clip removed, and safety on, along with three extra clips. Laying his MonoSword on top he works hard at it, but is able to zip the pack up. reaching over he grabs a Heavy overcoat, a standard one used by the average wageslave in a suit, and buttons it up overtop of the Armor. It is a tight fit, but he is able to get it closed, and likely won't look quite like an armored thug. Picking up his "briefcase" he walks outside, and Hails down a taxi, making sure that his Cell phone is on, and that his Psec is in his pocket. "<Inerst building Address> please".

The cabbie looks at Gun in the rear veiw mirror and gives a nod. "Sure thang pal."

The cab pulls away and heads through the city.

-------------------------------------------------------

Several minutes pass and the cabbie pulls over next to a street vender. "Hey, give me a sec, I haven't had anything to eat all day and we still got about 15 minutes give or take traffic."

He hops out of the cab and heads over to the venders, where he stands in line behind several people. The line includes a few bussiness men, a street punk, and a few Lone Star in uniform.

Darien

You're search through the web of telcom companies seems to stretch for days. The digital spiderweb of LTGs, pagers, phones, and matrix connections goes on forever. Finally, you find it... After digging through the trash for a few hours, you find the shreaded remains of a document. After peicing it back together, you see it is a delete order for the two phones. You dig around and find where the order came from. A user in Germany sent the order through.

The search took a long time, but with Spiderman offering the occasional bit of advice and running some searches of his own, they were narrowing the possiblities down. Darien was just starting to get frustrated when one of his querys came back positive. "Bingo."

"What did you get?"

"A delete order. From someone in Germany...home sweet home."

"Tracing it?"

"Of course." Darien laid out another pattern. As he completed it, the trace was sent out. "And now we wait."

The trace takes you to Germany, where you spot a bounce to New York. Following that one bounces to Japan, and then... back to a host in Seattle.

Boing....boing...boing...apparently someone didn't want them doing just what they were doing. So of course Darien was going to follow it up. Moving on to their latest destination, he set about looking around for a new trail to follow.

You sniff out the data trail to a box. When activating it, you are answered with, "Hey, you've got Jacks. Leave a message and I'll get back to ya."

Darien

When you finish up, you have a message waiting from your sister. "Hey bro, its me. I did a little digging on this Shark character. Didn't turn up much beyond comments on how good he is. Watch your back."

Reading over the message Phoenix had left, he found that for his success online, his sister had met with failure offline. He sent a message back. "Thanks for trying. Don't worry. I'll be careful. Talk to you later."

With the message sent off, he gave Sahara a call. "Hey...turned up a lead on the LTGs...you ladies interested in a trip to the Livewire?"

Jaws gets bored of looking at a computer screen. I should try to use day time to go check the area...

On his way out he checks his voice mail for messages and listens to Grizzly's message. Seems like someone thought of doing that before I did ... great.

Jaws dials Grizzly's number while flipping up the video screen. "Hey Gryzz, good job man. We should try to go check out that corner the two of us. We could figure out in which way we're gonna approach it this evening. What do you think? Want to meet me on the corner of <two blocks away in both directions> in half an hour ?"

Grizzly replies quickly, "I think you should meet me at the address I gave you, the best view is there, and it's over a block away. Meet me rooftop and I'll show you a thing or 20."

"All right, no problem. I'm coming right away."

About 20 minutes later, Jaws gets out of a cab at the given address and looks around to see if Grizzly is there.

"Good call, I think it's time we upgraded anything. But, no Americar knock off's. To many of those floating around already."

It didn't take long for the two to hail a cab in the snow. THey got a strange look from the ork cabbie as they jumped in, but nothing they weren't used to.

The dealership was one of the larger in the greater Seattle area, it had a large lot with rows upon rows of snow covered cars. Sahara walked on top of the snow into the warm building as Sydney simply plowed through it.

Gun is pretty sure that the Cabbie is chatting with the Lone Star cops while waiting in line.

Drumming his fingers lightly on the window sill, Gun continues to wait patiently for the Cabbie to return, still watching not just the line but also the whole street.

One of the Lone Star Officers walks over towards the cab. He is trying not to be obvious, but you get the feeling he is checking you out.

Sinching up his coat slightly, as if to keep warm Gun tips his head towards the officer.

The officer taps on the glass and calls through it, "Sir, could you please step outside for a moment?"

nodding Gun opens up the door and grabs his rucksack, slinging it carefully over his shoulder. "Is there a problem here officer?"

"Yeah actually. Why don't you turn around and put your hands on the top of the car for me."

You notice two more patrol cars pull up across the street.