The phone wakes you up, nearly causing you to fall out of bed as you reach for it. It's your fixer. Amazing, no matter what time of day it is, whether you're drunk, hung over, or feeling fine, you just never mind seeing that mug on your telecom screen...it's payday.

"You awake?" your fixer asks. "You better be, cuz I got some good news for ya, but you gotta act fast. You're s'posed meet Mr. J in two hours if you want the job. He was a little shady on the details...when aren't they...but it's some kind of bodyguarding job, right up your alley. He's promised 2,000 in advance with six grand on completion, along with possible bonuses." Your fixer gives you an address, an apartment in an upper-middle class section of town. "Like I said two hours. Johnson will tell you more about the gig and if you don't like it you can let it go then. If you take it I'll be expecting my usual finders fee." With that your fixer hangs up and you are left to your own devices.

It's 10:00 AM, the meet's at Noon. Better get movin' cuz it's gonna take about 45 to an hour to get there.

Bear wakes up, takes a nice hot shower (one of those rare mornings the shower works) Gets out, drys off, and slips into his "Sleeping Tiger" Outfit full with Hardliner Gloves. He puts on one Conceled Holster Under his left arm, and the other behind his back. He the holsters his sliver gun under his arm, and puts his Gaurdian behind his back. He slips his knife in his boot and puts the TMP in another holster and slips that into a small breifcase with his pocket secratary and a stimpatch. He then runs downstairs to his Americar, driving off to the meet.

Baron wakes as the telecom chimes out. Recognizing the "work chime" he picks up the reciever and half shouts "Timmy!" After getting the info he rolls out of bed, jostling the woman laying there awake. "Sorry, gorgeous. Biz calls." He calls her a cab and starts to get ready. He doesn't rush...he's never rushed. He showers and combs his hair, enjoying the view of himself in the mirror. "Damn, I look good," he says as he gets dressed. He steps into his Actioneer suit...with the longcoat option and admires how the cut settles on his frame. he loads up his Morrisey Elite with regular ammo and pops it into the concealed holster, pocketing an extra clip. He hustles the girl out when the cab arrives and doesn't even watch her go. She served her purpose reasonably well, he supposed. He Headed out of his penthouse, thinking about the money he'd be making...noone ever paid him what he was worth. Of course, noone could afford what he was worth except the big boys...and he was still too new to the shadows for them to pay him interest. He flagged a cab, told the driver the location...several blocks from the actual location (He'd walk the last few blocks and get a good look at the erea) and hauled out his pocket secretary, setting it to vibrate on a call. 8K would serve him well for a few weeks pocket cash. Bodyguard work was usually easy...quick cash was always good.

William has risen at 5am, as usual, part of the instinctive routine of needing to plan the day before most clients awoke. His morning routine is remarkably similar, even here in America. However, the lack of a client allows him to double his normal workout time, and perform a leisurely inspection of his equipment instead of the rapid, terse verification he's used to.

He's sifting through the days news when the call comes in, startling him from the oppressive silence that usually fills the small flat. He answers with audio only, still put off by the exuberant face that fills the screen, although it's recognizable as the 'fixer' that Felina had introduced him to several nights ago.

He responds to the offer with an initial affirmation, needing rent and food for the next month if nothing else, time to seek information, and time to establish himself among the semi-legal world that prevailed in the streets here in Seattle.

He steps from the doorway of the apartment complex 30 minutes later, cursing the lack of forethought that's left him without normal clothes, sticking out like a sort thumb in the middle class neighborhood, his custom tailored clothes naming him a mark to the predators that roamed the local streets, few though they were.

He hails a nearby cab and leaves for the meet, fully intending to arrive early enough to scout the location, his training requiring nothing less.

Ah, business. When the rich and scared pay me to keep them alive another day.

George rifles through the closet a bit.

Maybe I should get a smaller gun to carry on meets like this...hmm, this should fit in well, and should hide the body suit...

Once dressed up, George departs for the apartment, it never hurts to be there a little early watchig before you walk in.

A slow grin creeps over Dirk's face as he hears the news. It's about time he got work again. He gets up, does a few stretches, then takes a quick cold shower. He dresses in the one suit that he has, a dark Hong Kong suit with a dark grey shirt and a crimson tie. He puts on his shoulder holster under the suit jacket, along with his gun, then adds his black duster and matching fedora. He carefully checks his grooming, making sure he looks good, before heading out the door to catch the tube. As he approaches his destination, he mentally rehearses for the job of selling himself to the client. He should get there 10 minutes early or so.

Arriving ten to twenty minutes early, you take a drive aroud the block. The apartment building is a large one, about 25 stories or so tall. It's block is also occupied by large appartment complexes. To the south, accross the street from the building's main entrance, there is a decently sized park. It's a good day in Seattle, about 70F on a Sunny Sunday and many children are running through the greenery under the watchful eyes of their parents. East of the building is another block of apartments. The block north of the meeting place has several other apartment complexes along with a large public parking garage. West, there is a large strip mall with several retail stores, resturants and a large grocery store.

William- You take a look around for anything that would make you overly suspicious when you leave your doss and keep the watch up as you ride to the meet. There isn't anything you see that trips any inner alarms.

Not only does Baron circle the block, he circles the building to take a good astral look. He jams his senses into the astral and stalks around the complex, kicking in his vision magnification. Once finished, he does it again with his senses shoved back into the mundane. He mentally notes anything worth noting, then enters the building. He walks the entirety of every floor, familiarizing himself with it as best he can in the limited time, then, as his retinal clock clicks from 11:59am to 12:00pm, he knocks on the door while he puts on his emotionless game face.

William spends the few extra moments making himself familiar with the layout and the area around the building, including obvious entrances and exits. He commits it all to memory, focusing until he can recall each and every detail about the building, it's exterior layout, an area 'round it.

Bear is going to arrive on time and sit down to meet the Johnson.
Nothing Fancy

George takes his time getting to the door, not so long as to be late, but long enough to look at the stresses of each person in sight of the apartment building (and George hs some very good eyesight). Noting any deep discrepancies between appearance and truth, he chuckles to himself at how many people live in an endless lie. When the meeting time nears, he walks to the apartment building and enters.

Dirk enters the apartment building after only a cursory look at his surroundings, and heads straight for the meeting place, still early, and mentally rehearsing for the interview as he walks to the door.

William pauses some distance from the door, trying to look unobtrusive and observing as several individuals pile through the marked door in succession several minutes before the meet is scheduled to begin.

Shaking his head to himself and smiling, he steps forward, in the lions den.

You all arrive and are ushered inside in turn. Everything you witness feels normal for a meet of this sort. Everyone looks like a professional, and is feeling roughly the same mix of excitement and anticipation, and even a little bright because of the unusually sunny day.

Your host seems to be the only person in the apartment. The tall elf leads you into a large room with several couches and chairs. The furnture is nice, and the apartment well decorated, but the apartment just feels uninhabited.

Once you are all seated he offers you anything to eat or drink, and serves those who request something, then he stands at the front of the room and faces you as he speaks.

"Thank you all for coming. As you can probably guess, I am Mr. Johnson. I now ask that you introduce yourselves to each other. Once we have all been aquainted, we can get down to business."

With that he sits down in a large white leather easy-chair and clearly waits for you to comply with his wishes.

Standing with his arms crossed in front of him in his black Vashon Island Actioneer line clothes and sunglasses, his hair short and neat held in place with Nerps™ brand hair shellack, he stood his full imposing height and looked down to everyone and said simply in his moderately deep voice, "Baron." He looked at all in the room, expecting his name to be enough. He waited for the rest to introduce themselves, wondering if any of them would be up to "his standards."

Nearvosly Bear introduces himself. "I'm Bear." He says. Not sure how the rest of the introductions will go, and not willing to let out anything more than nessassary.

Dirk, looking relaxed as he sits on the couch, lifts the brim of his fedora to glance around with piercing grey eyes. "I'm Rent", he says, in a soft but rumbling voice. Rent is a whipcord-lean troll with slicked-back dark hair that has sideburns and a little bob of a ponytail. He is dressed in well-made dark clothing - under his black duster, he is wearing a charcoal grey, slightly conservative business suit. Despite his relaxed posture, he still seems alert.

"Interesting, only short names, quick to say and of few letters." He pauses for a moment. "'Kull' is enough of a name for these purposes."

He acknowledges each in turn as they speak, smiling and nodding pleasantly.

His voice seems to go with his appearance, light and cultured, and bearing a British accent. "Assez," he murmurs, giving the word a slight French accent. The slacks and shirt he wears under the simple overcoat look to be cut professionally for him and him alone. He looks more like a playboy then a bodyguard, with an easy smile, blonde hair and blue eyes completing the look.

Baron takes a long cool look around the room, peering deep into each individual as only one opened to the astral plane can. As he looks he is surprised to see that two of the other five people in the room are awakened, but not in the same way as him. Their magic is turned inward, helping their bodies to become more. The others, Assez, Bear, and the Johnson do not seem to share this trait. Baron can see that their essence is not as strong, or as pure as his or the others. He also sees dark patches of their bodies, where the glowing of their souls has been darkened by cybernetic implants. After taking his look he settles down to listen to the rest of the Johnson's pitch. His truth sense, gifted to him by his magic, has not picked up anything he believes bears interest, of course, no one here is using their actual names, but that is to be expected. The final introduction is made and everyone settles as their tall elf host again stands and begins to speak.


EDIT- Continuity Effect

Everyone watches intently as Assez finishes his introduction and sits.

"Thank you," your host says from his seat. "It is important that you get to know each other professionally. The operation for which I require your services will require teamwork. Lone guns will be a detrement and will be excused from the operation, and the payment entitled to those professional enough to complete it." He gives the room a cold, serious eye. "If there is anyone here who cannot live by this, then it is time for him to leave."

He waits for a moment, to see if his invitation is taken, when it is not he nods, then rises to his feet and presses a button on the small remote control in his hand. A panel on the wall behind him slides out of the way to reveal a trid screen. Another button press lights up the screen with a holopic of an attractive elf girl, apparently in her early twenties. She has dark brown hair and eyes, tan skin, and she is smiling for the camera, revealing alabaster teeth.

"This is Miss Johnson...no relation." Your perspective employer says with a slight smile. "She is arriving in Seattle by boat tomorrow morning at 9:30. Your mission is to provide her with personal security for the duration of her stay. The catch is that she cannot know that you are watching over her. For this I will pay you each 8,000 NuYen. 2,000 upon commencement of the operation and 6,000 upon it's termination." He pauses and returns to his seat. "I will now take any questions you may have concerning this proposal. I will attempt to be as forthcoming as possible, but you must understand that there are things about this that I am not authorized to reveal to you."

"Wait a minute," says Bear, his voice boomming, "how the hell do you protect someone who cant see you." He pauses calming from his nervous outburst. "I mean, if you can see someone the rule is that they can see you. Also the general reason you have bodygaurds is so that people know better than to frag with you." Bear takes a deep breath. "The point is why does someone hire a squad of bodygaurds only to make them invisible."

Rent smiles slightly. "Maybe she's the type who doesn't think she needs bodyguards, and she has buds who know better."

He looks at the Johnson, his face serious again. "The job is still doable, but I think we're going to need some more logistical support here. For one thing, knowing her itinerary would help. For another thing, it would let us start working on cover stories that explain our presense. Because sooner or later, as good as we are, she'll spot us. If we stay far enough away that she can't see us, we won't be near enough to help her when the drek goes down. We need a reason to be near her. And we also need to know what your priorities are. If we - absolute worst case situation here - can't protect the client without blowing our cover, do you still want us to do so?"

"One hires invisible bodyguards when the one being guarded is bait. I don't like this one allready." He turns to look at the man displaying Ms. Johnson on the monitor. "Here are the conditions of my employment. If you withhold information that I deem important and discover it, I walk away. Set me up and make sure I am dead or I will spare nothing to hunt down you and anyone connected to this job. The 2000 nuyen up front buys my silence. Once all has been said I will say whether I accept the contract, but the 2K Is to be paid immediately before the rest begins." He speaks in a noble manner, as if he's above all in the room. The way he carries himself leaves no doubt as to whom he thinks will be in charge of this operation (should he choose to accept). He maintains his analyze truth spell throughout the meeting, focusing it on his potential employer, but keeps an eye on the others, too, sizing them up to see if they are competition, underlings or the rare type worthy of being considered equals.

Looking at Bear: "Being seen and being noticed are two entirely different things."
"Baron's words are the basis of any proper agreement. I have to notice that you are vague about how long the job will last. 6,000 does not always buy even one day of protection. If the duration or difficulty goes too far, we will have to re-negotiate the payment."

Mr. Johnson stands totally still and listens intently to your questions and comments. After everyone has had their say, he stands silently for a long moment, then nods and addresses the group.

"I appreciate your questions and I will endevour to answer them. It seems that you all are the professionals I had hoped to recruit for this assignment." He pauses and turns toward Bear. "Mr. Bear, I am certain that you and these other gentlemen can come up with a satisfactory way to meet the mission specifications."

"Rent," he says as he turns toward the second man to voice his opinion. "Any logistical support you may require I will endevour to make at you disposal. I already have Miss Johnson's preliminary intinerary ready for you, as well as the address of the hotel she is booked into and a list of several places she may visit based upon her personal interests. The duration of her stay should be no longer than three days and four nights. The cover stories I leave up to you, but I will do my best to aquire anything you can come up with that may help said cover stories seem more plausible. And yes, I do understand the limitations of any bodyguard. While it would be the best of situations if you could keep your presence totally covert, the highest priority IS the saftey of Miss Johnson. If you must intervene for any reason, I do expect and encourage you to give no thought to your cover and perform your primary function...keeping her safe."

"Mr. Baron." The Johnson turns to the mage and fixes Baron with a solemn look. "By no means do we wish for any harm to come to Mrs. Johnson. She is very valuable to myself and to my employers. If you are hesitant to take this job based on concern for your personal health, I can assure you now that you will be compensated generously for any wounds that any of you may suffer during the course of this operation."

Moving on, "Mr. Kull. If you are concerned about size of the promised payment, I am authorized to increase the promised price as well as award you various bonuses. If any of you would like to negotiate for a higher rate of pay, I will be glad to speak with you privately or openly."

With that he walks to the back wall of the room and takes a bottle of juice from the refigerator there, taking a large sip to quench his thirst from such a long speech.

"Are there any more questions?" he asks as he returns to his comfortable white leather seat.

Assez shakes his head slightly as the other speak, watching and observing silently. When they've all had their piece, he arches a brow slightly to catch the attention of "Mr. Johnson".

"I, for one, have no problems and compunctions about guarding a client covertly. I've done it many times before. 8000 for 4 days seems reasonable enough. However, since I sounds like her schedule is a bit tentative, I will need an extra 3000 a day for each additional day she extends her stay here in Seattle. Also, if we're to stay close, we'll need to pay for accommodations nearby. I can hardly believe that she," he nods towards the image, "will be willing to stay in coffin motels and eat at the local Stuffer Shack. Therefore, I propose an extra 500 a piece per day to cover expenses."

He speech is steady and professional, always polite, and always said with a slight smile. He keeps his hands steepled casually in his lap.

"As well as the well put suggestions he (gesturing to Assez) made, we will also need names and descriptions of regular visitors or contacts that Miss Johnson has or will have. Images would be better. There is also the matter of the 2K up front...which I am still waiting for." He suggests with his tone and manner that he meant what he said about the 2000 being paid immediately. "I am certain everyone else here would agree that this should be taken care of before we continue." He speaks with such surety that he must actually believe that he has the support of all present, though they know him not at all.

"It's nice to see that everyone has some reasonable numbers in mind, but one of my primary concerns still stands. You expect a four day job, but have not given any details about the threat level or variety. If you have any nice slideshows of people you think would like to geek the chick, you may want to get to them once Baron's primary interests are met."

"Mr. Assez I believe that 300 a day is perfectly enough party money for each of you," Johnson says, that slight smile returning once more. "As far as accommodations go, I have already booked two rooms in the same hotel for you all to make use of. They are both on the same floor as Miss Johnson's booking and should give you excellent points from which to surveil her."

Reaching a lanky arm over the back of his chair, the Johnson pulls out a nice looking briefcase. Placing it on his lap, he opens it and removes several credsticks, tossing one to each of you. "There you are Mr. Baron," he says once they have all been passed out. "Now I hope that money will not be a hinderance to our conversation for the next few minutes at least." This he does not cut with a grin, his face remaining stone serious. "As of your request for additional intelligence, I assure you that Miss Johnson knows no one here in the city. She is on vacation, seeing the sights and relaxing in her own way. There is no one in particular she would visit, but as I said before there are many places she could visit, and I have a list of those places ready for you."

With a click on his remote, Ms. Johnson's picture is replaced by two shots of a human male of African decent. His skin is dark brown and long light brown hair flows from his head like the mane of a lion. One is a close up of his face, the other is a full body shot with a caption stating hight and weight measurements. Reading it, you find that he is a very large human, 6'9" and 350 pounds, and you can see from the full-body shot that little or none of that weight is excess fat. "This man," Mr. J continues, "Is named Samson Nojibot. A former colleague of mine, he was privy to information regarding Miss Johnson before he left our mutual employer and began to freelance. I consider him the primary threat to the well-being of Ms. Johnson. The last time my employers located him he was in Atlanta, but that was five weeks ago and he could easily be in Seattle right now. Also a concern are shadow teams such as yourselves, the identifying of which I leave to you."

Baron takes the credstick and checks the amount. Satisfied, he slips it into his pocket and crosses his arms in front of his chest again. Trusting his magic should the Johnson lie, he turns his attention to the monitor. Samson Nojibot. A collegue. Well, this Johnson just let them all have the info to find out who his employer was. He considered the reactions of his spell to what the Johnson said throughout the meeting for possible answers and questions. He activates his Sony OptiView™ vision magnification eyewear so he doesn't have to move closer and inspects the image of Samson for any obvious (or not so obvious) distinguishing features besides his size.

"This case intrigues me. Why, may I ask, is this man a threat to Miss Johnson? Normally those who leave the employ of a company under normal circumstances are no danger in and of themselves."

"I apologize, Baron. But I am not authorized to disclose any more information personally regarding Miss Johnson."

"There is a reasonable likelyhood that Samson would hide his identity if he was planning to act againts your interests. If it is within the available resources, I would like some photos and voice samples. There are many who this man could have dealt with, and such aids may help their memory."

He gives the Johnson a knowing smile as a compromise is reached, and gives another slight shake of his head as he catches the credstick and tucks it away in the inner pocket of the suit jacket.

As the Johnson delivers the last of the information he seems inclined to give, Assez waits for a quiet moment, and speaks again.

"I think that I, for one, have enough information. If she is arriving tomorrow morning at 9:30am, I think that we, as a group, " he nods towards the other gentlemen present, "already have our work cut out for us. We'll need to recon her hotel and as many of the possible itinerary stops as possible before tomorrow, and secure our own cover stories and accommodations. We'll also need to work out a rotating close and distant watch sch...well, I'm sure you've no interest in the details. If you'll be kind enough to provide the information you mentioned on her possible tourist picks, and the rooms you've acquired for us, I, for one, would like to get to work."

He glances around the room, lingering for an extra moment on Baron, and then back to the Johnson, apparently uninterested in any arguments that may be forthcoming.

Assez is wise, as Baron intends to argue. "I did not ask about Ms. Johnson, I asked about Samson Nojibot. Remember what I told you before. If I discover through my or my new teammate's work on this job that you had information we need and did not share it, I walk away. The 2K will keep me silent about the job, but not about you." The threat is not subtle...he is direct and hoping he will inspire direct answers which aid his spell.

Rent puts the credstick in his pocket, pleased enough with the negotiations. He grins at Kull's request. "I agree that photos would be helpful. At least this Samson is... distinctive looking. Big guy, for a human."

Looking back at the Johnson and Baron, Rent wonders if it's worth getting into the middle of it. But Baron does have a point, and maybe it won't be too late to keep things from getting confrontational. Stepping closer to the two of them, he speaks in his soft, rumbling voice: "Baron, I'm not sure we need to know why a former company man would want to abduct an employee of that same company. In fact, the less we know about Ms. Johnson's contributions to the company, the better." Rent turns back to the Johnson. "However, he does have a point about this Samson fellow. If he is a former colleague, then I'm sure you could at least tell us about his cyberware and fields of specialty without jeapordizing your company's identity." He smiles a bit to take the sting off. "After all, every company has its, shall we say, expeditors."

Bear, still nervous about this situation, and getting more so with the confrontation between Baron and Mr. Johnson, tries his best to sink into the couch and dissappear.

Well, they just blew it down the drekker, didn't they? Baron turns to look at Rent, brow furrowing in annoyance and giving Rent his best, "Don't you dare interfere," look. After a moment's glare, his features soften again just a little and he turns back to the Johnson, switching to astral perception to monitor his emotions as well as listen for lies.

Assez rises, glancing around at the room to confirm his own feelings in the faces of the others in the room before stepping up quietly beside Baron as the other 'runner continues to confront and offend the Johnson.

His voice is quiet, pitched to carry only to Baron and the Johnson, despite the small size of the room, and still polite and tinged with the English accent.

"I think you've satisfied the rest of us. I suggest that you allow Baron to walk away with his credstick. I offer up my own to replace it, if need be. He's already proven that he has no concept of how to work with a group. If, after reviewing the information on her itinerary and the locations involved, we decide we need another member, I'm sure that between the three of us," he motions to Rent and Bear, "we can contact and retain someone of adequate and appropriate skill.

"It seems Baron is not the only one showing a shortage of senses in this meeting. There are five of us here being offered a job. Baron's sense of self preservation seems to have exceeded his common sense. The interesting part is that he would threaten four people who could dismember him if we so agreed. He has some skill, otherwise he would not have been told of this meeting, but he can't seem to evaluate the costs of his words. Yet it would be a shame to get blood on this carpet and make Johnson clean up such a mess, he has been quite reasonable so far."

All this time, Kull remains seated, in his chair, as reclined as possible with its design.

Sensing via his astral perception that things are turning against him, he turns his attention to Rent. (9, 5 3 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 1 are the rolls) He hits a mindlink slpell (force1) to say what he means silently. ~I have an analyze truth spell active. I detected a lie from our Mr. Johnson when he said he wished no harm to come to Ms. Johnson. I am not doing this for no reason.~ He holds the spell so Rent may reply, even though it is straining to hold 2 spells at once. He does the same for Assez and Kull. (10, 6 and 4 with a -4 penalty added in allready for Assez, 15 and 3 after a -6 penalty for Kull...the rest were all 0 or below. Resist if they would against force 1...pretty easy...hopefully it'll calm everyone so I don't have to drop the character from the game. However, with the strain of holding 4 spells He's screwed for any other actions besides detecting lies)

(since ~ is apparently the standard for loudly thinking)
~Then he is lying about the motive, but not so much the goal. He says we are to protect her, but he really just wants Samson dealt with. If we will destroy this man, we should decide that when we get information about what Samson has been doing. If this is part of some infantile power struggle, I want to know more than this man will ever divulge before decided who to be honest with.~

Baron can see several things with his astral gaze. Assez is fairly agitated at his loud-mouthed ways and this agitation could quickly build to anger. Kull is calm, apparently keenly interested in the events unfolding before him. Bear is wishing he were a mage, so he could just turn invisible, not wanting any part in the conflict. Rent wants to end this as soon as possible and just move on. The Johnson seems to be the calmest person there, although Barons slight intimidation does seem to have paid off. Mr. J is not going to perpetuate the conflict, rather, he will leave it to the other runners.

Baron relays Kull's return message to the other two (should they choose to allow the mindlink) and waits for their response. He keeps his eyes on the Johnson, however, waiting for the conversation to continue.

Rent sends his thoughts, which seem fairly calm and unruffled, along the mindlink:

~"Even if he were telling the complete truth, it would change nothing. He still won't volunteer information about his company's internal power struggles. We need to get information about this Samson character, and trying to browbeat the Johnson won't accomplish anything."~

Bear looks curiously at the remaining runners, not knowing what is going on between them. Bear sits quietly, waiting to see what happens next.

Baron couteously waits for Assez's response.

Meanwhile Rent, ignoring both the outbursts from the others and Baron's scowl, continues to look calmly and expectantly at the Johnson, waiting for an answer for his question about Samson.

The Johnson waits quietly and somehow you know that he knows something is going on between the members of the group. After an uncomfortable silence he speaks, "I believe we have reached a slight impasse. I don't know what you gentlemen are thinking, but arguing gets us nowhere. I will continue only when you have come to a decision on how to end this conflict."

Assez feels the unfamiliar contact of magic with his mind, and instinctively clamps down, shutting out the mind affecting magic springing from the unknown source.

Still smiling politely, he looks to Baron. "After proving himself unwilling to act civilized, Baron was just leaving." he says calmly, outward demeanor showing none of the disgust for the lack of professionalism the other has drawn up. At Baron's distraced gaze, the possibility of the runner being Awakened flashes through his mind, and he tightens his mental defenses a little more, even more on guard and unimpressed then he was previously at the man's possible attempt to stick his fingers into his mind.