[gilga]

Marco said gingerly "I'll get there myself no worries." and started cutting his beloved fresh vegetables. thinking to himself "I'll miss fresh food so much. I hope they'll have it in Poland"

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena removes her coat and moves to the kitchen.  She sits and watches him for a while, loving the way his hands move over the food.  "Marco open diner.  Cook good all day."

As he gets close to finishing, Yelena goes to the cabinets and sets the table for two before taking a seat and devouring the meal.  She is hungrier than she had thought she would be.  "Much good Marco.  Yelena thank."

She helps clean up before kissing him deeply and grabbing her coat in preparation for leaving.

[SmilinIrish]

Jed wakes reluctantly.  The splitting headache is gone.  Still tired though.  No time for this.  Marco and I have a lot to do if we are going to learn crafting, or actually craft in time for Poland.  Am I going to Poland?  Work wasn't kicking his door down here.  He needed to find out more about what they were doing. 

Jed kicks a message off to Marco Good morning.  What time will you arrive today?.

Next he drops a quick message off to Joshua Josh, please let Samia know that I will be coming by the shop today to look at those Artificing texts.  I'll be bringing my friend Marco.

[gilga]

Marco finishes up and starts cleaning, he packs a sandwich to Jed. He texts him >> On my way!
As he arrives to Jed he hands him the sandwich and greets him "Good morning Jed" says Marco with a slightly too big smile. Marco is happy, there is little he would like to conceal it. How can he not be after the wonderful knight and early morning he had with Yelena.

 

[ismilealot]

@ Jed  >>I will tell Samia. She and I will be spending the day studying at the Botanical Garden. She needs to see the effect of singing different songs in plants with magical bloodlines and learn how to determine if the growing phase is right for the moons aspect to enhance it's properties. But, if you call ahead of time we will go to the shop and meet you there she says.<<

@ Arc  Jaime looks concerned but is relieved when he hears the doctor had already warned her about this. "Anesthesia has a lot of different effects on people. You're system probably just metabolizes it slowly. It can have a few lingering effects for up to a week. Do you want me to make you something lighter for breakfast?" Arc considers it and realizes that she's famished, but she really doesn't want the greasy sausage. But, eggs and toast sound good and she tells him so. It doesn't take more than a minute to serve her the simple fare and as soon as she eats she feels better. Jaime is getting ready to head out of the door for work when Arc gets a call, >>Arc, it's Sarge. Merlin tells me you're heading out in a week or so. I want to bring my grand-daughters bike by today. I want to have it for her before you leave. She wants to compete in the spring trials with it and will need all the practice time she can get.<<

[Shaman_Yuri]

Other than to keep Yelena centered on the here and now as they encountered the doped out junkie, Subaru stays pretty quiet from the time she's picked up until they get to the tattoo parlor.  So much has happened the  week or so.  Failing her team and letting both Arc and then Yelena nearly die by not predicting events which she should have foreseen.  Almost losing her own life...and her anonymity...after flubbing her meeting with George.  And just what in Hell was Arc-sensei thinking disfiguring her face like that? 

Nothing makes sense anymore...

Subaru slips off the seat from behind Yelena and waits for her mentor to settle the bike.  She's never been to a tattooist before.  While not forbidden by company policy, tattoos were discouraged if you planned to move up the career chain at Renraku.  Given until three months ago Subaru had every expectation that she could rise near to if not to the top of the corporation she'd been a citizen of since birth, getting a tattoo had never entered her young mind.  Those on her team who did get one were more likely than not to be pitied rather than applauded for the decision.  She doesn't pity Yelena-sensei, though.  Oh, no.  Somehow the effect of the tattoo on her eldest mentor strengthens her credibility and presence rather than distracts from it.

Something else that makes no sense...

The strange place both repulses and excites her.  She's been to clubs and the like before, but she really has no idea what to expect from this foreign place.  She waits for the ivory-haired elf to lead her in.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Y'know, this guy's not all bad, hehe.  Lifesaver....  Arc found herself smiling gratefully at her Vrukart as he served her the lighter breakfast, the eggs and browned toast proving good to satisfy her hunger and quell her nausea.  Devouring the meal, she ended it with a content sigh, relief on her tusked face as she hugged him softly.  Helping clean up, she dressed for the day in clean ware before washing her face, hoping by the spirits that she wouldn't have to deal with nausea for a full fragging week.

As they were heading out, Arc paused, getting the call from Sarge.  Kissing her Vruk goodbye, she  told him she'll be back that night before too late, and bid him farewell as she took the call.

>>"Hey Sarge, whaddup?  Yeah, Merlin be on the right, and I hadn't forgotten our deal either.  Yeah, I can get your grandau's bike fixed up null shweat.  I gotta stop t'make this morn, but I'll be at my place.  You bring the bike by and what ya want me to do to it, and I'll get it done well before I'm gone, ya feel me?  See ya soon"<<

Sending that off, she held her head a few times as she felt a little lightheaded for a moment, sitting down as she recollected herself.  Things are good...aight, things are good...now to fix this drek situation I'm in with getting around....  Pulling up the Trix, she browsed local areas for a little while for vehicles for sale, finding a lot of unsuitable drek and garbage for the most part...but then...  bingo!

Tagging the location of the dealer a kilometer away, Arc grabbed her coat and headed out into the Seattle winter morning, her heavy shoes crunching in the snow as she trekked along the busy roadside.  Along the way, her thoughts were filled with the recent events, looking ahead...  Seven of us now....myself, the fix-it and drone-y, Yelena the razored hitgirl, Firefly the mojo decker, Marco the mojo spy, Tuskaloosa the wheelgirl...and now Jed the mojo PI and Anders the spirit boy.  So much to worry about...and a few unknowns...  Shivering a bit in the wind, she fired off a message to their newest crewperson to be.

<<@Anders{Arc}: Hoi, morning.  So you gon' be rollin' with us by the sound of it.  I know you gotta meet with Yelena here soon, but if ya want, come by my garage in a few hours and bring your gear.  Wanna make sure your equips are good to go.  If not, I'll get to fixing it up, null sweat.  Your call, just lemme know aight?>>

She sent that off just as she arrived at the dealership, a smarmy cliche of a man with a combover shivering out to greet her.  The short mechanic greeted him with something he likely wasn't expecting: the tech savvy and no drek demeanor of a short girl who knew exactly what she was looking for, exactly what it was worth, and had the cred in hand to pay for it.  Dumbstruck, he submitted to her force of will, and in what likely would have been a record time for that establishment, she was rolling out in the vehicle of her choosing: a drab-looking GMC Universe, 8-seater with plenty of cargo space in the back.  A beast of a machine, but still fairly nimble and relatively unimposing.  Perfect

Now not devoid of a set of wheels, Arc felt whole again.  Grinning, she sat behind the wheel as she drove, idly sending out parts requests with her contacts and suppliers to trick out this lovely beauty of a machine in the time she still had to prepare it..as well as download the MultiPaint^TM app to flex her creative mind.  But with vehicle in possession, she would make her way back to her garage, ready to accept Sarge's job she promised him and get to work..plenty of time now with her new gear.

[ismilealot]

@ Arc  Late in the afternoon Arc gets a comm from BloodMoney, >>Yo, Arc. How much would it be to trick my bike out so it could make some longer jumps at lower speeds? Say, 30-40 klicks and go 10-15m?<<

@ Yelena & Cat  The Ink Palace is already busy. One older, heavily muscled human is having curved spikes added down his spine and discussing the patterning he wants around them with the artist. One girl who didn't look any older than thirteen was laying flat while two artists worked on a scene across her small breasts. Another artists was discussing adding more metal with a young man and telling him it would cover some of the work he'd already had done. When she comes in a young woman with her long hair ted up in a ponytail showing off the extensive modifications she'd had to her neck and jawline called to her from behind the counter. "Do you have an appointment?"

@ Anders  When he gets home that night it's to find that the heat is out. Again. And a call to the manager gets the usual excuse that he's got maintenance working on it. Anders already knows that means he'll call in the morning as he won't pop for the extra cost of having them out in the middle of the night. He's got some extra blankets, and a highly illegal heater. Management pays for the electricity as well and they don't like the extra cost of a heater. Fraggers might even shut off the heat deliberately just to save money. It's not them in the cold after all.

@ Marco & Jed  Nothing seems to be working for Jed. After all the planning and care and reagents and expense the spirits are simply not responding and Jed is beyond frustrated with his attempts.

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena hands her Predator to Firefly as they walk into the shop.  She looks around at the activity and replies to the young woman's question.  "Yes.  Name Yelena Petrovna.  Have appointment Jill K.  0900 but am early."  One of the two artists working on the young girl's exposed chest looks up and lifts a pair of goggles from her eyes.  "Yeah, Arti, she's with me.  I will be done here in a few minutes.  Can't wait to see the ink."  The woman pulls the goggles back down and goes back to work.  The girl behind the counter motions to a small table with a cafpot and some water bottles on it, telling Yelena and Firefly to help themselves.  Yelena rubs her hands together and gets a cup of hot soycaf before sitting down on one of the padded couches in the warm anteroom.  She picks up one of the magazines on a coffee table and notes that it is a catalogue of the work done here.  She hands it to Firefly, saying, "Decker mage look.  See if find anything good."  Yelena sees one that is a showpiece for Jill K and opens it to see examples of the skill of the woman that is going to work on her back.

Yelena is impressed as she flips through the pages of the book and decides that the artist is more than good enough to do the work she wants.  She leans over to Firefly, showing her a picture of a rose and another of a firefly in such detail that it seems about to fly off the page.  "Decker mage get this right or left breast.  Very nice."  She chuckles at the look on the girl's face.  Yelena not kid.  Mark body show achievement or love or life.  No shame in ink.  Just remember once on hard to remove." 

The woman named Jill K finishes her part of the scene on the girl and stands up.  She comes forward and introduces herself, shaking hands with both women.  Yelena correctly interprets her look and says that Firefly is just thinking right now.  Jill K smiles and asks Yelena to show her the ink.  Yelena stands and removes her shirt, exposing her naked torso.  The artist's mouth opens a bit as she looks at Yelena's chest.  She reaches out a finger and traces some of the tats.  "Holy drek.  Stan come look at these."  The man talking to the spinal art guy excuses himself and comes over, followed by the heavily muscled client.  Stan pulls his own goggles over his eyes and bends over to look at the ink on Yelena's chest.  He reaches out and moves her breasts from side to side to look at the art around them.  He stands up and runs a finger across the scrollwork on both arms.  "Ten years, eh?  You must be one tough bitch.  And I am pretty sure these numbers on the sun rays are not for the number of fraggers you slept with."  He shakes his head, "Don't recognize all of them, but you are one bitch I would not want to meet in a dark alley."

Jill K has moved around to Yelena's back and is staring at the art with an open mouth.  ""Stan.  Oh my fragging God.  Stan."" 

The man walks around to see Yelena's back as the male customer looks at Yelena's chest and says, "Are those.........are those what.......what I think they are?" 

As Stan walks behind Yelena he absently says, "Rikov, if you are looking at her rather amazing tits, yes that is what they are.  If you are looking at the ink and have to ask, don't.  You are better off not knowing.  I will say without any sort of equivocation that you do not want to piss this woman off unless you want to be found in a dark alley somewhere.  Probably missing several parts of your body."  The man called Rikov gulps and takes a few steps back.  Stan whistles and reaches out to touch the tree and its collection of skulls.  He slips the goggles back down and looks at her back from less than an inch away, moving his eyes all over the artwork.  Standing back up he looks at the other artist.  "Fragging masterpiece.  I saw strokes from at least a couple dozen artists.  All meshed together like they were done by one person.  You got this Jill.  Yell if you need help.  I would recommend old school work, though, if I were you.  Leave the fancy machines out of this."  Stan collects Rikov and takes him back to his chair.  Jill K leads Yelena over to her work station and has her lay down on the bench there.  She sits at a chair and does her own examination of the back then she takes a set of calipers and starts measuring various places and making notes on a pad with a stylus.  She asks soft questions of Yelena and nods at the answers as she makes sketches free hand on paper.  She confers with Yelena on where she wants the new skulls and shades and nods as they come to an agreement. 

Jill K stands and pulls a tray of instruments over to the work station.  She opens a case and removes an old fashioned inker, flips her goggles down and goes to work on Yelena's back.  The work takes several hours to finish.  Stan and the other artist come by and stand behind Jill a couple of times, but say nothing and then leave her alone.  Firefly sees Stan nod his head as he walks back to his next client.  A man comes into the shop and says that he has an appointment with Jill K.  He is unhappy to be told that her earlier client is taking longer than normal and she will have to reschedule his appointment.  He starts to create a scene and Stan comes over to talk to him, offering him a significant discount if he will reschedule.  Somewhat appeased, the man leaves after scheduling an appointment for the following day.  Jill works through lunch, taking breaks only for water and to use the restroom.  When she is done, she scoots back and shakes her arms and wipes sweat away as if she had been hard at work.  She calls Stan over and he bends over to look at everything.  Finally standing, he nods and smiles.  "Fragging great work, Jill K.  Your best yet.  You got everything right and made it seamlessly mesh in with the rest."

The man moves a camera on a special rack over and takes several photos of the work so that Yelena can see the work on a screen placed before her.  She looks carefully at the photos then smiles.  "Is perfect.  Yelena very pleased."  She sits up and motions for Firefly to come look.  She can tell where the new skulls have been added to the hundreds of others only because the skin is reddened in those locations.  But she realizes that her untrained eye would not be able to tell if there was not the telltale discoloration.  Even the new ghostly figures in the background are perfectly matched to the ones already there.  Yelena turns to the girl "So Firefly choose one or wait?  This very good ink place."

[Mulcarn]

The party was fun, it was enjoyable.  But alas all things in life must end.  Anders said his goodbyes before leaving the garage and turning home.  Seattle winter was nothing compared to Norway's frost, a mild irritant to the Norseman.  Crisscrossing streets and alleys to find the way back.  Neon signs glow in the after-dark in words that he struggled to grasp and pronounce.  Sometimes he'd stop midway through and take in everything.  Half hoping that Seattle would dissolve into nothingness and he'd wake up in his bed in Oslo with the promises of a better future.  Of course, such hopes and dreams are better left to drunks and crazies.  His reality reinforces again and Anders returns on his pathway to some cheap-ass apartment complex.

The parking lot was filled with derelict cars and other forms of urban decay.  A sign that he was near his destination.  Anders walks up downtrodden stairs that spiraled several times over.  Eventually he stands at the door to squalid refuge.  He sighs exhaustively and opens it to let himself inside his residence.  The insides were barren, and bereft of even the simplest of leisure.  A few things made the stay bearable, but still nonetheless... unpleasant.  A barely stocked fridge that was probably made 40 years ago.  A microwave that flickered in and out of functionality.  The oven was oddly the only thing that worked right, but he never had the chance to use it, other than leaving the door to it open and turning it on in case the heat went out.  Home sweet home, at least it was rat and cockroach free.  Guess they had better places to be.

The night comes and goes.  Anders sleeps through frigid depression and awakens to the new day.  Arc and him exchanged codes before he left last night, as measure if they needed to contact one another.  He yawns unenergetically, checking and scrolling through his Renraku Sensei for anything to shock him out the drudgery of today just long enough until he makes it until tomorrow or the day after.  A glint of something shines in the corner of his eyes, a message was left for him.  Well, actually, was just left for him.  Anders grins a little before compiling the text.

@Arc - <<Okay, sounds cool.  I'm not doing anything right now so it shouldn't be a problem.  Give me some time to gather my things and i'll be there shortly.>>

There wasn't much gear for him to bring over for inspection.  A gun with some weapons mods, and a armored leather jacket with specialized protection.  Anders takes a quick bath before leaving.  He didn't want to arrive looking and smelling like yesterday's stink.  The water was cold and offered little to him in the ways of succor.  Sharply he throws on his new digs and heads out there door with a duffel bag assortment of gear and apparel. 

[Shaman_Yuri]

Subaru had watched with morbid fascination as Jill K had expanded upon the extensive work already covering the elf's smooth (other than the scars) back.  She'd never been squeamish about needles and watching the artist precisely place each tiny...pixel for lack of a better term...of pigment maintained her rapt attention such that when it was done she was amazed at how the time had flown.  Even more amazing was that Jill K's work never seemed to suffer from the nervousness she must feel at making semi-permanent changes to the body of such a dangerous person.  She learned as much from the artist about keeping cool under pressure as she did about the inking process.

The process did come to an end, though, and she concurred with everyone's approval.  It was superb work, if she was one to judge.  Given how in demand Jill K was, it caught her entirely flat footed when Yelena turned to her rather than start paying the woman.

"So Firefly choose one or wait?  This very good ink place."

She was sure that once again Yelena was being entertained by an expression Subaru would be horrified to see in a mirror.  "Um...uh...can I keep thinking about it?" 

I've given up so much already.  If I get inked, I'll be closing any real possibility of ever resuming my old life once I prove my parent's innocence.  If I learn...if I grow...if I can get revenge and be seen as excising a cancer from the body of Renraku, I might still rise in my father's footsteps.  I'm not ready to give up that dream.  Not yet.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Home.  Work.  The two mixed together perfectly for Arc as she killed the engine to the Universend and hopped out.  Breathing in the familiar scents of motor oil and machine parts, the short human rubbed her hands together before stepping inside, donning a well loved pair of coveralls.  Time to go to work

It was not long into putting some time on Tuska's bike did Sarge come by.  Thanking for fixing up the King Scorpion, he dropped off the junior bike and explained what his grandau would be doing with it.  After some back and forth, Arc pitched her ideas, finding a balance between performance and cost effectiveness: tuning up the power train would give the speed needed while refitting the tires and suspension would compensate the handline.  Stripping down the escess bulk reduces weight...and with a troll, thats vital, fact of life...and then fitting a feather trigger clutch and throttle increased the control factor.  Simple, and Arc could do it without much issue.

Even with her current jobs at hand...and even with BloodMoney's call for a job!  Man, she was getting busy...but when she only needed 3 hours of sleep a night, she could afford to night train while working the day hours.

<<@Bloodmoney: trick out like that will require a nitro fit along with a streamline job.  I'll quote you 4K on it and four days if you can locate me a can of the nitrous.  Deal?>>

Not long after that did she hear the buzzer of someone at the door.  Flipping the garage open, she lifted her goggles and killed the butane torch she was working with.  The place smelled of her labors, and several dirt scuffs dotted her cheeks and outfit as she grinned, tusks gleaming a bit in the light as she waved him in, stepping away from the troll sized bike she was working in.  "Make yself at home, cafpot's by the door.  Lesshee whatcha got..."

[Mulcarn]

Anders trudged the sloshing snow.  It was fortunate he didn't end up long lost to where no pathway went.  Trekking gangland was always fun in a deathly hazardous sort of way.  But it was day time, so the majority of the city's roughnecks were probably sleeping off whatever concussion or hangover they had.  Arc's place and machinist shop is found with relative ease.  She let's him inside after he buzzes a few times.

To be a good guest, he wipes off his booted feet before entering and unloads the duffel bag of questionable goods atop a clear counter space.  Anders unzips it and reveals the contents.  Showcasing two boxes of bullets, a modified heavy-chrome pistol, an outfitted jacket, plus a few other things that might prove useful.  He folds his arms and says.  "I know it's not much but it's all I have on me.  Don't let that fool you.  I won't need a whole lot for this trip.  Maybe a stim or trauma patch if you have one handy."

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc couldn't help but tilt her head at the young man's manners of kicking his boots off before stepping into the concrete two-bay garage...though now with the van occupying one of the bays, it did seem quite a bit less spacious.  Tilting her head towards one of the tables, the short girl hopped over to clear off some space from the nearest workbench, the clatter of scrap metal ringing against the walls as she made space for him to dump the contents.  Nodding, she crossed her arms under her chest.  "Aye, think that can be arranged.  We gon' have med shtuff available as well, though I'm hoping it ain't needed.  We'll hook you up...gettin' shome unhackable comms goin' down too, y'all need a microtransceiver?"

As she spoke, she cracked her neck, fixing her red hair as she started to go through the gear, offing her coveralls down to the waist.  The chrome of her right cyberarm glinted as she moved, hands working deftly as she flipped her goggles down over her cybereyes.  "Now what do we have heah..."  Picking up the pistol first, she gripped it in her cyberhand, checking it for bullets first before handling the piece.  Her hands never wavered as she moved, flipping from open to ready position, snapping into a position to check the sights, then twirling to inspect the frame.  "Hm.  Savalette Guardian, recent model even.  Looksh clean...gash vent system?  Hm, impressive..."  With a few clicks and a flurry of her fingers, the weapon seemed to come apart as she field stripped it, inspecting the barrel and the parts.  "It's clean....well cared.  Action could use some adjustment, but not hard..." Picking up the frame, her fingertip flipped into a little tool , sticking it into the parts of the frame and making a little click.  "20% less shot of jamming there...good."  Nodding her head, she reassembled the piece before setting it down.

The coat was coming next, Arc using her goggles to inspect the fibers, particularly at the joints and where the vitals would be covered by.  As she worked, she hummed a bit, the tune sounding reminiscent of Symphony X before she spoke up.  "Ya prolly got questionsh about this job...I would.  Ain't no shame in it, 'kart, so whaddya wanna know?"

[Mulcarn]

Anders watched the tusked girl work her mechanical expertise quietly.  Leaning passively to the side as Arc picked apart his gun, almost like she built it herself.  He nods slowly in response to her first question.  "I'm not expecting to be shot either but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.  And no I don't have a micro-transceiver.  I usually work alone.  There was never a point to pick one up."  A flurry of deft handiwork makes mincemeat out of his Savalette Guardian as he converses.  He stops his thick-accented reply to listen to her monologue about his weapon.  A few key notes of compliments makes him grin a little in sly shyness.  She reassembles his gun and begins inspecting the modified synth-leather armored jacket.

Many questions tossed and bustled in his head.  Anders pondered if there was even a point in asking or questioning anything.  It seemed like a pretty straight forward job.  Go to Poland and kill some evil woman and get paid once he gets back to Seattle.  But blind faith could spell his doom just as easy as a hangman's noose.  Brazenly he asks.  "You fellows seem pretty okay with a complete stranger coming on board your revenge mission.  How do I know that this isn't some con game of yours?  It's kinda... I don't know, convenient that you have this job lined up.  I know it's ummmmm... fearless or rude for me to ask this.  The whole thing sounds a little too good to be true."  The Norwegian stumbled on the proper vernaculars somewhat, but hopefully he got his point and question across.