Kai-
Moving under the cover of darkness, and quietly through the tall grass and shadows, Kai puts himself in good position to see everything. He is well hidden in the field, that Glide and even Pike have a hard time picking him out, and they know where he is.

Oddly, not all of the squatters have passed out from their daily booze yet. Infact a few of them look as if they are somewhat alert, or having mental episode, but they do not appear to notice the field Mouse.

Fully in the weedy grass now, Kai resists the urge to scratch where a couple of ants have found their way inside his longcoat as he carefully inches a bit closer, trying to determine if these guys actually are interested in the warehouse, or just on some really jived novacoke.

Seta takes the monorail to Bellvue, getting off at the closest stop he can to the Barrens, and he makes his way to meet with Xion on foot. The rasta troll is usually found in skate-land, an old mecca of cement and metal that once saw regular use as a skate park, but now lies all but abandoned. Seems ma and pa corporate thought the park was unclean, and took to fencing it off. That hasn't stopped everyone however. There are still skaters there, but they tend to be more militant, gang-style ones. Even then, none of them bother the lumbering grafitti artist as he practices his art on the pools and structures. At the momement he is in the middle of a rather tasteless bit with an elven woman of exhaggerated features. Seta grins as he approaches, having walked for a half hour, but feeling fresh as can be.

`Hey, Xion, nice handiwork... got a minute?`

SETA:

"For you Seta, I got five. What brings you out here this time of night?"


KAI:

The ants have now found Kai's most sensitive spots, in ichiness at least. Trying to make a big impression on his friends watching from the roof tops, he fights the urge to scratch. Moving along the ground, closer and closer to the targeted warehouse, Mouse picks up more and more ants, dirt and stickers.

GLIDE:

From the rooftops, Glide has now lost visual contact with Kai. He is quite a sneaky bastard. If she cant see him, well that means there probably less chance of anyone else seeing him.

VIPER:

The night is getting later, and looks like the team has turned it in for the night. The two elves have left EC Nights, and Johnson is in Herme's office throwing pencils into the ceiling.

STEVE:

The cold night air is normally rough on one's throat, but all the humidity seems a little soothing. The short walk to the coffin hotel has him a little rejuvinated, but still in need of sleep from the long day. Its quarters are cramped, but surprisingly comfortable, as much as a box can be.

Viper yawns, and decides it's time to head back to her place for a bit of shuteye. She pops her head into the office briefly to satisfy her curiosity about the odd noises. "Huh. Gravitational Dart Ninjas, eh?" She wanders aimlessly back to her place and crashes for a while.

The closer he gets, the more Kai can smell that awful stench of booze and ass. Yep they're squatters alright, but they do seem to be acting oddly. Usually they keep to themselves and their booze, when they aren't running around screaming about the end of the world. It looks as though they are waiting for the Soup Kitchen to roll around anytime soon.

Weird, huh?

But Kai can occasionally take a hint, and this is just a bit more weirdness than he wants to stick his nose into just yet. 'Sides, he's supposed to got team members now. Sure an' one of them won't be just thrilled to be yanked into this? Mebbe Viper, yowza, don't she supposed to do that thing of hers, where she kin lie perfectly still like, an' still scope out the whole city?

Kai carefully starts edging away, doesn't stop until he gets right back to Pike's an' Glide's side. It's hard not to give in to the impulse to startle the living daylights out of her again -- But it's so jive! -- but he's able -- just -- to force himself to make a little noise before suddenly turning up. At least, that's what he's going to keep telling himself, that he done it on purpose.

"Glide," he says softly, "Kin ya git Viper t' do that thing she does, ya know, widde scopin' an' all? Jest somethin' weird 'bouts 'em, ain't starved up like th' 'thers." He shrugs then, "Mebbe there ain't nothin' in it 'neways, but y' said t' check."

(I miss this one.)

Two days have passed since the team started their surveillance. Those two days dragged on for what seemed like two years. While it was long, boring and usually uncomfortable, what with all the ants and all, it was quite productive.

It seemed that the warehouse didn't see a lot of shipping and receiving, yet there were always personnel around. While they may have looked like dock workers from afar, they seemed to act more like hired muscle. Wondering around the property with bulges protruding from their pants. Mind you, these bulges didn't come from spotting a scantily clad Glide on a rooftop, but more like a bulge created by a firearm of sorts.

Johnson has called the team to gather at noon at EC Nights to discuss the job. He awaits in his, well, Hermes office. The door is closed when Steve arrives and notices Kai and Mr. J having a discussion. He peers in the window, observing the interaction.


Viper strolls on into the office like she works there, noticing a peeping Steve at the boss's office window as she passes the front desk. She walks up and joins him.

"Kai, you need to learn their is a time and... place... for...," his voice trails off as he searches his desk for something.

"Give me back my pen!"

"Weren't like ya was usin' it, boss." But Kai flips it into the ceiling anyway, alongside the pencils. Weren't like he was needin' it either.

'Sides, he's gotta get through this lecture before he can get to the good stuff, like what that whole scopin' out thing was all about anyway. Scratching at a leftover ant bite, he stretches out on his chair, his feet -- almost -- on Johnson's desk.

That's when he spots Steve's face hovering by the window, an' now the grin's bustin' to come out. Yup, there sure was a time an' a place, an' now with all them new things he'd been talkin' about wi' Viper, the last two days ...

Steve peers through the window, barely able to make out the conversation. Johnson had an authoritative voice that he could use, but it was nothing like Hermes’ bellow. Sadly, it seemed that J was trying to instruct the kid – but was having little effect.
Steve is slightly startled when Viper slides up alongside him. Spirits, she’s graceful as a cat and as quiet… he thought. He indulged himself with more than a quick glance, taking her in; She wants people to look, that’s why all the flash…if she’d ditch that drek she could be a Tir princess… Another part of his conscious shot back at him; …and you’d be her prince?... Embarrassed by the thought, he looked her in the eye. “I think they’re almost done.� he says. He still hadn’t quite gotten used to this new lip coloring she was experimenting with – something the color of coagulated blood – but at least it was better than that hilighter green stuff.

Viper nods, then moves up to the door, uncomfortably close to Steve - although she seems oblivious to her effect on him - to stretch up on her tiptoes and look through the door's window herself, snorting slightly as she sees Kai's studied nonchalance - but Johnson, while not unflusterable, seems to keep his cool a lot better than Hermes. She still feels a bit bad about taking Johnson's side against the kid, but she would have felt worse if she had let him off the hook, to make a more serious (and maybe fatal) mistake later.

Her lips quirk up into her usual smirk. "Well, doesn't look like we'd be interrupting much of anything. C'mon, we all need to figure out what we're going to do next." Without further ado, she turns the door handle and enters the office, striding in confidently, as if she owned the place.

'Bout bleedin' time!

"Hey, Viper, s'up? Ya gots sommin' new? Neato lip-shiss! Steve wi' ya?"

Blinks, an' then for a sec Kai quits his twitchin' as he stares straight at Steve, still hoverin' at the door, an' then back at Viper.

Woah.

Johnson looks up as Viper enters. He gives her a look of frustration he usually reserves for Hermes' asinine assignments. He shakes his head and flops down in the chair on the other side of the desk, already exhausted in his dealings with Kai.

"Come on in guys and have a seat. And can you close the door behind you?"

A couple of chairs from the break room wait along the wall next to Kai, who has already claimed the over-sized cushy one similar to Johnson's. There are only two free chairs, not four like the group expected. The coffee pot, probably bug-free this time, along with a couple of mugs, wait on the desk for the team. The sugar bowl, or at least the small dish that holds the sugar packets, is easily located near Kai.

Steve pauses, momentarily confused by Viper’s insolent breach of decorum, then remembers that his ‘Eastern’ concepts of courtesy enforced by Renraku and Wetech are not an issue here. He follows Viper in, closing the door as Mr. Johnson has requested.

Mating the E chip to the pocket sec, he boots the little device and calls up the set of encrypted notes titled “Grocery List.�

As the team gets comfortable, Steve with his pocket sec, Kai with his feet on the desk, and Viper doing what ever vipers do, Johnson sits up in his chair in attempt to look professional again. That professional look used to go without saying, but he is obviously flustered with having to cover for Hermes, being away from the team, and on top of all that, having to deal with pen thieves.

"Well guys, it looks like you're going to be running thin. Glide had a family emergency to attend to, and will be gone for a while. On top of that, I haven't been able to get into contact with the new guy, Peta, for a day or so.

"On top of that, I don't think Hermes is going to be back for a while. Do you three think you got everything covered?"

Kai shrugs. Hands tight 'round the hot soykaf, lettin' the heat get at him. Been a long stint, an' edgy from all the after-work wi' Viper, an' he's stiff an' sick o' all the not movin'.

"Whatcher got? In, out's slick, it's gotta be me. Why'dja ken Hermes brung me in? Figure yer settin' it up an' watchin' m' back. Wi' all them pieces, they sees us, we Ghost Danced."

Viper nods, looking (semi) serious for once.

"Yeah, we have the sneaking part covered, any way you want to play it. I can turn people invisible, do quick disguises, or float people over walls. Kai is good at sneaking, and has his spirit friends to help him scout out places. Steve looks like an average Joe, so he can hide in plain sight."

Her eyes narrow thoughtfully.

"We need some kind of plan, though, if we want to find out what they're doing. They have all of those people packing, and they have squatters - they smell too bad to be anything but real squatters - watching the place, too. Lots of eyes, and we can't slip up even once. Even if we get away, we'll have botched the job, and rookie runners don't need that kind of hit on their rep."

"Geez, Viper --" can't believe I's sayin' this '-- whatcher wanna mess wid 'em? All we gots to ken 's what's in them boxes, hai? We just gottsa ins an' outs."

As the team goes over their plan of attack, they compare notes of their observations.

With Pike watching his back, Kai got close enough on the second night to take a gander in the window. Besides a lot of dusty old shelves, dirt covered floors and garbage strown about the warehouse, the only contents were a couple of wooden crates, placed dead center of the building. Oh, and spiders, lots of spiders, at least based on the amount of cob webs and eight legged critters running amuck.

So far, nothing has come in, nothing has come out. There are always at least two roaming goons, and sometimes as many as four. Obviously, what ever is in the crates is worth a lot of nuy, and its probably not kittens. If one is clever, sneaky or lucky enough, one may be able to get past this "security detail" and take a looksie at what's in the box.

Now the four part time delivery boys (and girls), part time runners, must decide how they can accomplish this, without fragging it up... or being bit by any of the afore mentioned spiders.

Steve contemplates the information displayed on the pocket sec but his attention is drawn at the sound of his name. He mentally replays Viper’s comments and keys in, “How about one of those spirits? They can be invisible, right? Just send one in and have it take a look, report back, we’re done.�

Viper turns startled eyes to Kai.

"Huh? Who's talking about messing with them? I was talking about sneaking, not fighting. Fighting's lose-lose. They can't know we were there. We still gotta find out what's in those boxes, though. I'm thinkin' we need..."

At Steve's comment, she pauses, before shaking her head ruefully. "Nice thinking, Steve, but spirits aren't like us meat-and-blood people. They can see things most of us can't, like emotions and people's general health, but they don't understand other things. A crate full of BTLs, or a crate full of pirated 'ware disks, or a crate full of rocks - all the same thing to a spirit."

She idly plays with her braided ponytail as she continues.

"Now, some how or other, one of us has to actually get in there and pry one of those crates open. That's gonna take a little bit, and make a bit of noise, too, so I'm thinkin' that we might need something to distract the guards, while another one of us zips in and out to do that. And coming and going, we have to remember not to let those squatters get a peek at us, either. Sooo... Kai is probably the best one to get in and out, so it comes down to how we can back his play. I can either tag along invisible to bail us out if we need it, or be part of the distraction. Steve can be, I dunno, an angry drunk guy? Or maybe he has a better idea."

Her voice trails off as she looks at the others, seeing what they might want to add to the plan, or maybe change about it. She's not used to all of this planning stuff - it's making her head hurt!

"Yeah, iffn' them crates was here regular, mebbe summ'un crashin' i' th' place'd ken it" -- an' by now the group knows Kai enough to know his "summ'un" means the local spirit. "Don' think it bin here long-ish. 'Sides, I dunno who's crashin' there. City's different."

Sets down the soykaf, hand twitches -- but Johnson's watchin' him narrowly so he lets it slide. 'Sides, nothin' all that interestin' in here. Stupid spiders.

"Ya know, them rovers, they ain't standin' onna crates alla time. They ain't even close. Jest them four an' th' crates, an' it's a b-i-i-i-g place."

Suddenly Kai sits bolt-upright. "Hey, they ain't bin there f'rever, ka? Summ'un seen 'em come."

“I’m not sure that one ‘drunk guy’ is enough of a disturbance.� Steve comments. “At Wetech we’d just zap him with a stun baton, drag him into the street and call ‘Star to sort him out… I doubt these guys would call the ‘Star, but I also doubt they’d send more than one or two to deal with it. Perhaps if we upped the ante a bit – say some gunfire; that would put pressure on them to get control before ‘Star could show up.� Steve looks around at his coconspirators, “I have an idea…�

“I stumble around the place ‘drunk’, if all the goons come – fine. If not, have one of those spirits show up and fight with me – bullets don’t hurt them, right?... This just gives the goons a few minutes to deal with it before ‘Star can respond… If that’s not enough to get all of their attention…� Steve stutters to a stop. “Uhh, the spirit wouldn’t really have to hurt me, right?�

"Geez, I dunno," says Kai, lookin' up from playin' with his phone. Leastwise it's keeping his hands busy, Johnson notes, and hopes it'll last. "Liddy really hates fightin'. Them soused sararimen, they gets real nasty sumwise, real temper freaks, all screamin' and blades an' stuff. She hates blades. Guns she don' min' so much. Could call up Sarah, she do like a good scrap. I kin all'ays tell 'er t' be real careful-like widja."

An' then Kai busts out grinnin' as he thumbs his phone on, and a startled Steve suddenly hears -- himself, escalating volume ringtone, in full choleric tirade. "Chill, man. Ye'll be fine, but I kin all'ays stink ya up if ya wants. Dead rats all'ays helps."

As the ringtone finishes its cycle Steve reddens and starts to giggle, rapidly degenerating into actual laughter. This lasts only a few seconds, then, regaining his composure, Steve looks at Kai. “You know I didn’t mean it Kai� he says with a smile.

Johnson sits behind the desk listening to his team plan. They have always given great input into the planning, but he was the one who made the final decision. With Johnson now stuck watching over the ECN office, he wouldn't be able to assist out in the field, so someone else is going to have to pick up the lead. No time better than now for that to start.

Johnson knows how he would run the mission, but its time for Viper or Steve to take the lead. He leans back in the large office chair so he can more comfortably observe the teams discussion, and to keep a better eye on Kai's hands.

Viper smirks slightly, her expression relaxed, although she is actually glad that Kai's little prank seems to have defused some tension, instead of the other way around. She was about to chime in with some reservations - she knows spirits are pretty bullet-resistant, but not invulnerable - but she figures the kid must be able to summon them relatively strong, if he's not worried.

As Steve's laughter dies down, she speaks up, diffidently:

"Sooo... that's what you two guys are gonna be doin'. Now where do you want me? In with Kai, all invisible, so I can float us out in a hurry if he needs it, or outside, keeping an eye on the 'distraction'? Or part of it, maybe."

So far, the plan seems relatively simple. She actually considers that a good thing. Less things to go wrong, less chances for bad luck... and less stuff for her to have to bother to remember.

“Well, I would feel safer if you were there watching my hoop, but the job requires that we don’t tip anyone off to our interests in the crates, so it’s probably better that you concentrate on helping Kai get in and out without being detected.�
Steve pauses for a moment, then continues;
“As long as the goons don’t get too personal about it, the worst that could happen to me is getting a bit roughed up – ‘Star would likely just cart me off to sleep it off elsewhere, or at most I’d be charged but I’ve got a clean record, and I’m a citizen.�

Viper laughs.

"So, you get beat up by a bunch of sweaty thugs, while I have to keep the Mouse out of trouble. How come you're giving me the hard job?"

She relaxes a bit more in her chair, satisfied that their plan, such as it is, seems to have come together. She watches Kai out of a corner of her eye, though, half wondering if he will object to her presense - he's used to flying solo when it comes to the sneaky stuff.

"I’m not sure I like it, but it seems like the most likely way that we can avoid anyone finding out that we messed with the crates."

Steve looks at the other two, then at Johnson, before continuing.

"However, if we have time, we might make a disturbance before we actually try to infiltrate the building, just to see how they react. People tend to have patterns, any individual tends to react in similar ways when given the same stimulus.

Kai, could one of your friends start some drek with the squatters? Just stir them up, maybe get them yelling? We could observe how the goons react, see if they call for backup – whatever. It might give us an idea of how they will act when our hoops are on the line."

Steve looks at the kid, and wonders; What is he playing with now?

"Instead of wandering around, you can always drive my Americar around the property. That may add to the drunken approach," Johnson adds.

Steve remembers that car. A Ford Americar-nice and dinged up, light black, very bland. Probably could use a few more dents, just for gp.

Later that night...

The team gathers at the near by quik-e-mart before sending Steve on his stammer. The night sends its cool breeze, the sounds of the city are just background noise, and the air is filled with funk. Welcome to the Barrens.

[quick backpost]

"What, like ya jes' wan' one o' dems t' start trouble an' shit? Null sheen." A glint in Kai's eye: "Mebbe gets a whole gang here."

"Dry run," repeats Steve a bit nervously. He's pretty sure the kid's got the concept. He just needs to be sure that the kid wants to.

An' then, wheelin' around on the chair to face Viper:

"Ya wanna backs me up, guess'n s'OK, long's'ya kin keeps up. Make sure ya gots me a clicker fer when we goin' in."

" 'Clicker'?" asks Viper after a moment, confused.

"Ca-me-ra. Could be I's lookin' in an' gots no clue what I'm seein'."

An' then blinks: Did Johnson really just give 'em the OK to drive his car? Jeez, way t' take alla fun outa it ...

After giving Kai a final caution that this is just a test to see how the goons react to a disturbance, Steve walks off down the block to observe from a reverse angle.

Apparently Kai didn’t understand where Steve wanted to be before the drek hit the fan; 40 meters short of his chosen viewing location, Steve hears one of the bums start yelling.

The elf preps his binoculars and scans the scene.

Steve spots two goons near the back door of the warehouse. He can see the the dimly lit interior through the cracked open door. The halogens probably burnt out years ago, or may have been stolen for backyard wrestling props. Or maybe goons just prefer the dingy yellow glow of incandescent bulbs.

The two are standing about 10 feet away from the quarter opened door, smoking cigarettes and drinking out of white foam cups. You could assume it is coffee by the way steam is floating off the top, but you never know. Maybe they like hot cocoa or tea.

Viper slides into the Qkik-Mart, one of the few places open this late, humming tunelessly. As she heads towards the isle with the cheap electronic goods, she idly wonders how Steve and Kai are doing on their recon. Hopefully they will start to mesh a bit better, or at least not kill each other.

Ignoring the gaudier offerings with too many 'extra' features, she decides on a black plastic disk on the end of a neck chain - built-in flash, easy in-and-out memory disk, wider angle than the even cheaper pencams, and not a bunch of buttons to confuse the kid. Not bad for 30 , although she wishes they had a less drab version. Actually, they do have a "Hi Kitty" version, but she knows Kai wouldn't go for that.

She sighs as she needs to summon the cashier to unlock the plastiglass display case ("As if this crap was even worth shoplifting", she thinks). She winds up getting a soyberry wiz-gulp and a couple of candy bars, as well. She walks home, more alert than she seems, but still not overly concerned about street predators. But her confidence in her magical abilitites, misplaced or not, isn't tested tonight. The only ganger she sees is one staggering down the street, half-supported by a similarly-dressed woman, who elbows him sharply when he ogles Viper. Damn. Been to long since she's partied. She'll have to fix that once this job is over.