One of the guards steps up to Spider and asks, "You got a request you want to make? If not, I suggest moving on."

Spider shrugs nonchalantly. "Sure. I can talk to him now, or talk to him later. Might want to check with him, though, before tossing me out. He may want to talk to me now, with all of his friends around... just for his own peace of mind. And I have some things to ask him, but he just might have some things to ask me, too."

The ganger turns back to Johnny and whispers in his ear, well, more like yells in it. "He says he wants to talk to you about some stuff and figured you'd want us all to be around. Want me to tell him to frag off?"

He looks to Johnny, waiting for an answer.

Johnny didn't really need the relay. Sound dampeners and filters were marvelous things. However, those who didn't know him didn't necessarily need to now that. "Nah. I might as well deal with this now." he replied. Looking to Anji, he said "Wait here, babe, while I have a little powwow with our 'friends'"

He squeezed her hand reassuringly before directed the runners off to the side, not wanting to make a big scene of this if it could be avoided. He knew that even if these guys got ideas and something happened to him, his friends would make sure nothing happened to her. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we. You're here about Anji, aren't you?"

Spider nods. He feels a twinge of irony to be playing this one straight, but then again, he generally reserves his underhanded tactics for people who fit his profile of Marks who deserve to be fleeced.

"Yes. We've been looking for her. We've been pretty straight up about that. We were hired to find her, not abduct her... although the party who hired us did seem to want her back. But he seems to have the notion that Anji is a kidnapping victim. Now, either her dear old dad - or so he claims to be - panicked when she ran out on her family, or we've been completely misled about the situation."

Spider rubs his temple, with a rueful expression on his face. "Now, it embarasses me to admit to having scruples, but there are some things I don't, as a rule, do. One of those things is perform extractions on civilians, as opposed to corporate assets who know the risks that go with their job. If the Johnson had told us that he wanted such an extraction, we would have had an opportunity to refuse the job. But if he is misleading us, then he has, as far as I am concerned, violated our contract."



Spider's gaze becomes more direct. "Which brings us to you, Johnny. I want to know what your side of the story is. What this guy's relationship to Anji really is... and I could tell that he was holding something back from us. And then, we can talk about how we can work things out so that everything turns out best for all concerned. Maybe we can give the guy a vid of Anji saying she's all right, or maybe you would rather show up with her... and lots of your buddies for backup... and get some closure.

Now, you may be wondering if I'm really playing it straight. Well, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you. We would just ambush you outside and you'd wake up by yourself. I hope you play it straight with me now. I really want to hear what you have to say, but remember, it's very hard to con me."

Runners with scrupules...Johnny's esteem of them rose a few notches. They could be playing on his sympathies...but if they really just wanted to just take Anji, they could have just tailed them after the party. Trusting them a bit was worth a try...and perhaps this could work out to their advantage.

"Kidnapping victim, my hoop! That pervert who dares to call himself her father just wants his toy back before she can tell the world just what he really is. And if you had planned on taking her back, you would have had another thing coming. I'm not about to let him hurt her anymore."

Spider looks thoughtful, frowning faintly - he is also assensing Johnny, to see if his strong emotions really are genuine.

"This is more unpleasant than I had anticipated - for someone who prides himself on his cynicism, that's a real blow to the self-esteem. But we may be able to help each other out - we know how to get in contact with our erstwhile employer, and I think we can give him what he has asked for - in a way that gives him what he deserves, instead of what he wants."

"So what do you have in mind?"

Spider, with an introspective look, as if he is still thinking it up as he is speaking, replies "I don't have all of the details worked out yet, but you need to confront this bastard, and our team needs to get paid. I do want to "technically" complete the job, because the last thing I need, in a new town, is a reputation for not completing a job. But I don't want to get a reputation as someone who lets a Johnson screw with him, either."

His eyes seem to glitter coldly for a moment. "No one messes with me and gets away with it." He takes a breath, and resumes calmly again:

"We can set up a meet with him, but instead of his toy all giftwrapped for him, he has you, us, and any muscle you want to bring. We get paid, Anji gets to tell him off, and if he starts any trouble we can serve him his punk card.

If you want to do more, then I can help you. I can mess with people's memories, and implant post-hypnotic suggestions into their heads. I can scan his banking passcodes, or make him do something foolish or incriminating. You, being a decker, could use those passcodes to drain his accounts - cutting us in for a bit, since we'll be getting you the passcodes in the first place. Depending on Anji's information, a subtle slip of judgement could be all that's needed to nudge him into ruin."


Although he is outwardly calm, Spider is a bit concerned. Not so much about Johnny, who is probably even more vindictive towards the Johnson than he is, but more about his teammates. He hardly knows them, after all, and now he's speaking for the whole team. But he hopes that even if some of them would have had no qualms with a simple kidnapping, they won't like that the Johnson misled them, and will appreciate the chance to make some extra money. Still, he'd better be ready to do some fast talking, if needed, to sell them on the plan.

Cipher grins, "Sounds like a good plan to me, I don't like being bulldreked, 'specially by some Jap Johnson, I got friends in Orkland."

Cipher relays the information over his TacComm...

"...you getting all this."

The possiblies Spider offered ran through Johnnie's mind. He would have settled for just killing the guy. But with their help, they could go further. Ruining his life in return for the hurt he had inflicted on Anji. "I'd need to talk to Anji about it first, but you guys have already proved just how easy it is to follow us. We need to end this now, before he sends someone a bit less scrupulous..."

The gangers step aside, leaving the group to talk things out, but several wait to the side, eyeing the situation and fingering various weapons. Your target stays behind the DJ booth, watching to see how Johnny reacts.

Eclipse whispers into Flares ear, "so it looks like we are going to fulfill the letter of our contract, then help the kids get out of the city."

"I've got some pretty good surveillence gear, so I can record the meet from a way off, both vid and audio. Should be able to provide us with some incriminating 'insurance' if he says the right things."

Cipher laughs, "An' I can always edit things if he doesn't."

Spider smiles coldly.

"Oh, he'll say the right things, one way or another."

He turns politely to Johnny.

"Would it be all right if we bring our two associates in now? They are in radio contact with us, but they might want to contribute something to the discussion... and we're about to get to the 'nuts and bolts' phase of our planning, so I would prefer that everyone be here."

Flare cocks an eyebrow in Eclipse's direction.

"I still think there may be more to this than meets the eye."

"As long as you guys leave any trouble at the door, they might as well come on in. Meanwhile, I better go clear all this with Anji and see if she wants to come contribute." Johnnie answered before heading back to the booth to draw Anji aside to pass on what he had learned from the runners.

Eclipse squeezed the razor girls arm.

"Isn't there always?"

He led the way through the crowd to the other two runners.

"Sup," he nodded to them.

Anji gave Johnny a quick smile as he approached. "What did they say? My dad sent them, didn't he."

"Yeah...but apparently he didn't tell them straight, and they're none to happy about it. They're offering an oppportunity for revenge."

She frowns, never liking weird change of events... "What do you mean?"

"Offering to back us up if you wanted to go tell him off, or otherwise mess with his life in return for what he's done to you. All they need is to take you to him to fulfill the letter of their contract so they get paid. Nothing was said of how you had to come, or what happens from there...there was a suggestion of picking his mind for bank account numbers and embarrasing or incriminating information to make sure he leaves us alone in the future. Might even be something in there that might make your mother come to her senses and realize what a dirtbag he is."

Fear creeps over her features like a wave, "Wait... I'd have to go see him?"

"Yeah. Though don't worry. I'll be right beside you whatever you decide to do. I'm sure some of the boys would volunteer to back us up if I asked. I just thought that it would help if somehow you could get him back for all the pain he's caused you..."

At the mention of what he'd done, her eyes go cold. "Are they going to kill him?"

The blond elf's eyes never stop scanning the crowd that came close to filling the huge derelict warehouse. She was well aware that her former gang affiliations could be either a blessing or a curse in situations like these. Flare hoped that this time it would be the former, but was on edge, just waiting for the axe to drop. While Spider and Cypher fill the two elves in, Flare sizes up the couple whispering off to the side. This was definitely the chica they'd been hired to find. She just wished that, for once, the Johnson would lay things on the line, right from the start.

Flare's right hand twitches slightly at her side as her eyes return to scanning the surrounding crowd, the thin layer of her dark green long coat a scant but unwelcome barrier between her fingers and the 'sweeper strapped to her thigh. 'There's still something we don't know about this whole situation. I just know it!'

"That's an option. Though frankly the idea of him living in humiliation has a certain savor to it."

"Not to interrupt but killing is probably a bad idea. He's high enough placed you don't want the 'Star after you. We could work him over for sure. But for the most part lets just do what we need to do and get you two out of dodge."

Eclipse gave Flair a odd look. He leaned in to whisper into her ear, "you okay?"

The blond elf responds under her breath, without interrupting her scan of the surrounding crowd.

"Seems too easy! I can't help but feel that the hammer's gonna drop real soon."

Spider looks relaxed, patiently waiting, but he is actually alternating observations of the girl, and of the two sammies on his team.

The girl seems to be slowly getting convinced by her boyfriend - best to leave him to that delicate work.

The two sammies seem to have a few misgivings, but he can't tell whether it is because they would rather simply kidnap the girl, because they have qualms about the plan itself, or if it is simply the healthy paranoia that every runner cultivates.

He walks the few steps over to their little huddle, with a slightly raised eyebrow but a friendly grin, hoping to be invited into the conversation. He might not be; the two elves seem a bit insular. But hopefully if they have any serious concerns, they will let him know.

"Hey Spider, its nothing really, we just feel like were missing something." Eclipse shrugged. "Not sure what though."

Spider smiles in understanding. "Yeah, I always feel that way when a plan comes together. Even when it's going off without a hitch, I still have that itch between my shoulderblades. But I think, overall, we've done what we can with what we know. We just need to be ready to adjust if something unexpected happens."

Flare casts a quick look in Spider's direction, her expression slightly skeptical, before returning to her self-appointed task of watching the surrounding crowd of partying gangers.