[ismilealot]

@ Marco  >>Marco, glad you changed your mind. At least until I hear the price tag anyway. But, I'm sure I can get an ok for anything reasonable. I'm working a half-day today to catch up on the time I missed so I'm free after one. When and where do you want to meet.<<

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena responds to Marco via the spirit link.  **It was twenty-eight years ago in week.  Yelena count every day.  Yelena think all dead or old.  Yelena wrong.  Woman is alive.  Traitor main henchman alive.  Vory contact find.  Live in Poland.  Vory want woman dead.  Vory call Yelena to go.  Yelena is Vory.  Must go.  Marco come garage.  We talk.  Firefly here.  Decker girl fix Marco commlink.  Come soon.  Yelena has date Bella tonight.**

While waiting for Marco to respond, Yelena sends notes off to Jed and Mike.  >>Jedediah.  Is Yelena.  Need talk.  Have money for pay.  Tell Yelena expenses.  Come garage today?  Come soon if can.  Yelena need talk PI man about trip to Europe.  Might have skills Yelena need there.  Send note Yelena if interested.<<    >>Mike.  Is Yelena.  Yelena have money for pay.  Can tell Yelena what find.  Tell expenses.<<

[Duck N. Cover]

The trip could have been much shorter if Tuskaloosa had transportation of her own.  The ride could have been shorter and more comfortable if she had the spare funds to rent transportation or take a taxi.  Without any of those options, she took the simplest way:  public transportation.
   
     She was certain if there was an afterlife she was going to the nicer place; she was already paying her Karma.
   
     ...Not to say the buses of Seattle were inherently bad.  Barring the unpredictable, they were close to schedule.  In addition, most fellow riders simply wanted—as she did--to get from point A to point B with as little hassle as possible; everyone was in the same 'boat' and simple civility all that was necessary to keep the going smooth.  No, what ground her gears was the lack of control:  Wait at this place for the bus' pace, to be taken where the bus wanted to go at the bus' rate.  Stop at every place to let someone in or let someone go.
   
     If this meeting wasn't so important, wasn't so out of range and wasn't in unfamiliar territory she would have walked.  It would have given her an outlet for the energy that was building, if nothing else.
   
     It would also have let her keep her helmet on at least.  The tinting on the visor made it impossible to see her face, which was a quick way to make other riders nervous—not something she wanted.  It also seemed somehow pretentious to wear on a bus; that was the last place where high speed injury protection was warranted.
   That said, she would have preferred the anonymity that it provided.  Having it at all felt like a scarlet letter: here stands a cyclist—possibly just a wannabe even—who has no bike. The thought alone made her cheeks hot with shame.
   
Bear with it she thought, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose.  She lowered her head and leaned slightly into the rail she was holding, ready to close her eyes and give herself over to the rhythm of the bus.
   
     Out of the corner of her eye she caught something bright and colorful drop.  As she blinked and raised her head, the object stopped falling and gained altitude with a hum.   It paused long enough for her to identify it as a minidrone—a Shiwase Gintonbo—before it sped away.
   Tuskaloosa wouldn't have ever bothered with a Gintonbo.  Shiwase's answer to the MCT Fly-Spy, the 'Silver Dragonfly' was too big and noisy to miss.  Therefore, Shiwase didn't even try; with electric blue wings, color-strobing eyes and metallic finish the drones were marketed as toys.  She had personally seen someone at a street festival performing aerial acrobatics with a couple of them, but that was as sophisticated as it got.
   And it was where...my horn? She gave a rueful snort.  That'll teach me not to pay attention...

   As she watched, it circled around in the front a couple of times—near a seated boy—before zig-zagging back.  It landed on the helmet in her other hand, and began walking around.  She held the helmet up in the air in front of her, slowly rotating it—first one way, then the other.  The faux insect for its part crawled constantly to keep up with her and stay on top.
   
     She was lost in the game until a hiss brought her focus back; the older woman sitting next to the boy clearly angry.  The Gintonbo flew back.
   Overhead, Tuskaloosa heard the name of her connecting stop.
   
     There was no time to go forward and explain.  She understood both sides: the playfulness of a drone rigger-in-training as well as the responsible concern of annoying a stranger—and a troll at that. But his antics had also taken her mind off her trip; he deserved a little slack for that at least.
   As the bus ground to a stop, she walked a couple of steps up the isle and leaned forward.  “Young man.”  When she got no response, she repeated herself louder.
   The whole bus seemed to stiffen. Her 'pilot' spun in the seat.
   “Fly well.  And Politely.”
   With that, she slipped out the back doors without looking back.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc gave a smiling nod to Rabbit as they thanked her for the cred and recognized the promise to stay in touch.  She couldn't help but eavesdrop on Rabbit and Hoppybunny as they talked and hugged, seeing the fear in their eyes and hearing it in their voice and it gave her pause.  She recognized that fear, it was unmistakable for her, a Barrens kid who spent ten years drifting under care of various Howlers of differing levels of hostility.

That's abuse fear...  She lowered her gaze, biting her lip a bit as they filtered out to leave.  Her mind visualized the numerous scars and permanent welts on her back, recalling each painful beating she got for spilling something, not responding to an order, or for simply being in the way.  She focused so much on staying on the streets whenever she could just to be away from all that when she was younger, and on her technical training and ways she could be useful once she was old enough to handle Howler jobs.  Because when you did stuff other people liked, they left you alone...mostly.

It was Hrock's gentle hand on her shoulder that snapped Arc back to reality, the girl shifting her gaze when she felt the touch.  He must have realized what she was thinking as well, because he held his hand there for a moment before pulling away, his gaze softening as he spoke his piece.  Nodding her head, she embraced her big ork uncle before letting him go.  "That works wiz, you know how to reach me.  Ride well"  She followed him to the door, shutting it behind her before leaning against the door with a sigh.

Past is rough..gotta focus on the present.  Present is better...huh?  In serendipitous timing, the message from Jaime came into her view, confirming his availability.  The last few words made Arc's eyes pop wide as she read them..and reread them, and she felt her heart stop in her chest.  ...love...  There was no direct Or'Zet translation for that emotion, and with the culture flying by their passions in every aspect of their lives, including mates and bonds, it only made sense.  Therefore, love in and of itself was a thoroughly human trait, connoting something deeper and more concrete than a Vruk binding.  Arc could feel her mouth dry as her face grew flushed red, a smile fluttering onto her face as she gave some thought, giggling a little to herself as she punched in her reply.

<<"That's perfectly fine, Jaime.  I don't expect to be out tonight.  I will see you tonight....love you too">>

Sending that, she felt herself freak out a little before calming herself, deciding that she needed a distraction to pass the time until her expected guest arrived.  Darting back to the garage, she reorganized the loot by credsticks, paydata, and SINs to be looked through later, turning instead to her Matrix browser.  We have a lot of money now...I've been thinking about doing this, so why not...  Gulping to herself, she pulled up from her history the ARO catalog of the sleep regulator implant.  From there, she spent some time sifting through Redmond directories, putting inquiries out, seeing if a clinic in the area would be able to procure and perform such a procedure.

It was by that time that the other two occupying her place emerged, Subaru followed closely behind by Yelena.  By the look of how the younger girl was favoring her midsection, she must have been still feeling a bit rough, and upon seeing that, Arc sprung into action, helping the girl over to the couch and sitting her down.  "Take it easy.  You can help out by sorting through this junk.  The data and SINs likely will be wanted by someone, so selling that drek off should be wiz, aye?"  Letting her at it, and keeping the physical objects to be examined within reach, Arc handed her some water and let her be, instead turning to the engine, likely with Yelena.  She didn't do much with the physical parts of it, instead just grunting a bit as she aligned it to be upright, instead using the trid projector to work on some body designs to fit the engine...though without a point of reference, it wasn't hard for her to see where flaws were found as she went.

Thinking about Europe, Arc glanced over at Yelena, then back at Firefly.  "Eh..just thought of some drek...now I ain't left Seattle, I know, but Hrock mentioned some drek about borders and customs, and needing licensing for frag all and that.  I got some license drek to my SIN for carrying a piece and some other stuff, but will that work?  Like, Firefly, you're licensed to have decking equips and software?  We might have some trouble otherwise...plus my drones might get some drek...huu"  She held her head in her cyberhand, feeling the cool metal against her scalp.

"Oh, right...other than that, I gotta person coming by here soon, interested in the engine bike rebuild.  She's a troll, and that's all I know, so just wanna give y'all a heads up, eh?  Should be cool though"  Smiling a little, she looked at the time, her growling stomach reminding her that she only ate in the early morning, and now it was early afternoon.  Punching in her ARO, she ordered a couple pizzas to be delivered...meat specials with a vegetarian in case Subaru didn't want meat...  all now was a matter of waiting and time...

[gilga]

Marco released the demon, there was some time for that. The experiment seemed successful and it will help Marco overcome his limitations, to talk to distant people. He packed his things and went to see Yelena at the garage. Surprisingly, despite being completely shaken by the request from the Vatican he is cool, relaxed and focused.

On the way he texts Blake >> can you meet me at Arc's ?

[ismilealot]

@ Yelena  Yelena this is Mike. I've got the info you requested. Nicolai Fyodor Andreovich code names Nick the Knife, Ghost, and Silent Scourge. Former Vory enforcer with almost 60 known kills, suspected kills number over 300. He is currently the de-facto leader of a small bratva in south western Poland based out of Grodziec Castle. His bratva controls the black market in Ziotoryja, Legnica, Karpacz, and Wroclaw with fingers in a large percentage of legitimate businesses as well. Said to have a strained relationship with his main competition in southern Poland, another Vory group led by Victor Malkovich Sumakowski. Rumor has it that the current Vory leadership has ordered him to make nice with Victor's group or he will be removed as de facto leader. No reliable DNA or assensing on file but he is suspected of being an elf and  well cybered based on reports of injuries throughout the years.

I'm sending you an invoice for my time of 500, plus expenses of 3,300.

[Shaman_Yuri]

{Placeholder}

TL;DR - At the mention of SIN, Firefly will wince a bit from her position on the couch working on sorting tech.  Her real identity and corp SIN is dead and she cannot use it or it will tip off Renraku, or specifically the people who did her parents in, that she's still around.  It also would cause issues at the border at her use of a 'dead' SIN.  Renraku will be after her for going AWOL and the bastards will be after her as a threat, and would be able to use corp resources to do it due to the former.  She has a fake SIN for "Renge Miyauchi" which matches her somewhat but might not work well over a national border.  It does not license her as an awakened person or for her deck.

On the plus side, she'll mention that she's been to Europe before - Turkey, Greece, Italy, Central Europe, Germany, and France.  Not Poland or Russia, though.  Travel won;t be alien for her, nor will dealing with various cultures and their different authorities.

[Mercy Merchant]

The demon dematerializes and the conversation with Marco ends.  Yelena thinks the Keeb is coming over but is not certain.  She may have chased the man away, which would probably be better for him, but his words leave her a bit unsettled.  She resolves to go see him on Sunday if he does not come by today.  The water stops running in the bathroom and Firefly emerges.  Her face is cleaner, but there are spots on her clothes.  Yelena points to the small closet she shares with Arc.  "Yelena clothes on left.  Firefly find shirt and pants fit.  Scarf on door for head."

Yelena goes to use the bathroom in order to give the girl some privacy if she wants to change her clothes.  After all is completed, she motions for the girl to proceed her back into the garage, where Arc sets the decker mage down on the sofa to sort through the loot from the previous evening.  The large bike engine draws Yelena like a magnet.  When Arc joins her, she is already hands on and playing with it.  She helps Arc right the engine.  "What think?  Not look right for Scorp.  Maybe Mirage?  And Yelena not know what this is."

She watches as Arc sets up the trid viewer and begins to run through some holographic views of what she thinks the bike will look like.  She nods, "Yes.  Mirage bike.  Much custom work.  Arc rebuild for Troll?"

[gilga]

Marco enters Arc's garage smiling and cheerful. "Well hello there!... You got a really nice engine Arc!" He say when referring to Arc's new toy. At least he thinks it is a one big engine.  When he spots Yelena he hugs and kisses her warmly "Thanks for not shooting my demon... I am trying to learn some methods of communication that are secure." He say.  Spotting Subaru Marco said "I do not believe we met, I am Marco." Seeing what Subaru is wearing Marco will not be the first to extend a hand. 
 

[Shaman_Yuri]

So this is the mysterious Marco I heard on the comm yesterday...

I have been hard at work examining the electronics, especially anything other than credsticks that contain data, that we hauled from the safe.  I'm being very careful to open data carefully with my Ericka, both to avoid being caught by surprise by security measures or to permit the data to be corrupted.  I know better than anyone that the right data, to the right person, could be worth far more than the big engine that was so exciting everyone else.  I want to make sure we know everything that we caught in this haul, and my gift of speed reading  and photographic memory is being put to good use as I absorb the contents of each file not just in my Erika but in my mind.

Then my concentration went out the window.  It was bad enough when this man had just walked in and started speaking to his friends and colleagues, but then he had to turn his attention to me despite my efforts, short of casting a spell, to be invisible.

If Allah has set His mind to creating the perfect man's form, this apparition now acknowledging me wouldn't be far off.  I don't believe I've seen anyone so beautiful in my life...and he's talking to me.  I thank Allah that I had decided not to avail myself of one of Yelena's scarves and therefore still wore my usual charcoal hijab rather than something less substantial.  Without my trusty hijab to armor my dignity...and my confidence, I am sure I would have have fled already.  If only I hadn't left my abaya at home and instead am left wearing the borrowed pair of purple sweats emblazoned with the emblem of the local university.  Baggy they may be, but they still show more of my form than I would wish right now.

"I...I...um...am Sub...uh...I mean Firefly."

I turn my attention back to whatever piece of tech happens to be in my hand now - I have no idea anymore what it is.  So much for looking mature to Yelena-sensei...

[gilga]

"I...I...um...am Sub...uh...I mean Firefly."

“It is nice to meet you Firefly, I am Marco” When I notice that the young lady can barely look at me I add, in an attempt to break the ice, “So you are into electronics?” I finally say trying to figure out what is so enticing about these parts that she is holding. I would never know all this technology is miraculous in my eyes. “Perhaps she can help me”, I think to myself but am not sure if to bring it up. I have no idea how to send the Vatican all my correspondence with Lady without sending the comlink itself, and somehow I do not see the comlink fitting inside a book.
“... you wouldn’t possibly know how to query a comlink for a specific number would you?” i finally say. Ignorant as I am my former master expect their requests answered, even if these are phrased as requests. The last thing I need is to get their attention to me.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc listened to Firefly intnrtly as she said her piece, and that answered her questions to satisfaction enough for her to turn to Yelena.  "Ysee, we are gonna needa figure drek out to get our equip over there.  I know your guns ain't fitting that Bill either, Srui..". Leaving the Decker to sift through the data on her own and otherwise stay relaxed, Arc turned her attentions with Yelena to the bike engine.

"Yeah, I get what you mean.  There's a drek ton of power going through this baby, but the distribution doesn't fit the Scorpion style..Mirage maybe, but again, I'm thinking a custom design.  Look how the air intake comes through the sides and not above..Likely it was modified to adjust to a groom's bulk without sacrificing aerodynamics...hmm"

She was interrupted by the melodious calls of their keen friend in arms Marco, the mechanic waving back almost absently.   "Hoi, thanks Marco.  Just picked it up, looking to rebuild.  Hope you're hungry, pizza's comin"

She paused as the man went over to Subaru, noting the look of what almost looked like fear and pain in her reaction.  Clearing her throat, the rigger piped up.  "Easy on Firefly there, Marco.  She helped me with some work last night, needing some chilling and recov.  Chill up sight?" .She grinned and nodded to him, turning back to the engine and still attempting to project a design, finding frustration as each one seems to contradict the engine makeup in some new way...

[gilga]

"Hoi, thanks Marco.  Just picked it up, looking to rebuild.  Hope you're hungry, pizza's comin"

"Everybody likes pizza! If it was healthy I'd eat a pizza every day."

Easy on Firefly there, Marco.  She helped me with some work last night, needing some chilling and recov.  Chill up sight?"

Marco tells Arc "Oh I don't bite..." He pauses "unless she is asking very nicely." He grins Wait...  You work nights now too? You never cease to amaze me. I guess a big engine does that to a girl."  It seems like Arc is talking about shadow work, but does she really want to do something shady the night before her big breaking and entering?  I subtly remind Arc that she asked for my help tonight... and I really should start practicing and memorizing Goblin faces. I do not know how much I can talk around firefly, so I try to be a bit subtle.   "What about that Bootstrap man? He promised to show me some cool stuff but you never got back to me on when do we meet. Practice makes perfect you know...  If I am to pass as a goblin I need some practice."

[ismilealot]

@ Tuskaloosa  Most of the time a troll, even a relatively small one like herself, doesn't get bothered when they're walking the streets. But, most of the time she's not in the Barrens where the percentage of ork's and trolls are much higher than average. She isn't off the bus for more than a hundred paces when a group of five orks spread out to block the sidewalk she's walking on They eye her up and down and Tusk is suddenly very conscious that her clothes are a much nicer quality and her heavy jacket does a much better job of keeping out the cold than anything they're wearing. One of them, a fairly tall beefy specimen for an ork, meaning to say he's still more than a head shorter than her steps forward and says. "You're not from around here. So, you don't know there's a toll for walking these sidewalks. Toll is fifty. It helps us keep the riff-raff out and keep these streets safe. Pay it nice and friendly and you'll walk the next ten blocks no problem. Or, you don't walk at all." His voice is very matter of fact when he delivers his ultimatum. It doesn't seem to matter to him at all which one she chooses.

[Duck N. Cover]

Tuskaloosa was always aware that something like this could happen.
   It was hard to believe that her mismatched sneakers and patched jeans could be considered better than what they wore, but she knew the coat's freshness could draw attention.
   She shook her helmeted head.  “Go quickie.  No got fiddy.”
  Then she cracked her knuckles.  “Got sammich doe.  Got lots ta give.  No want?  Go way so I go quickie.”