[adamu]

The robed figure did not answer immediately, but watched as Isaint donned the glove. He gazed at the item for several long seconds. His face remained masked, but his body language made clear his distaste.

"The world is facing an epidemic, my friend," the last word pronounced with more vinegar than honey. "And the efforts to combat the growing plague have been uncoordinated, indeed mercenary, to the point of farce. We are forming a network of organizations that realize the weight of this threat, and are committed to putting its efficient destruction before short-term and short-sighted interests. Naturally this mathematician can be a useful resource in this work of..." and he glanced again at the glove, ",..salvation."

He gazed again around the assemblage of runners within his view. "That is our interest in him. But what, pray tell, is yours? Our observations suggest you are operating without a rudder, no one at the helm. It is clear you have somehow lost contact with your initial employer. Am I now safe in assuming you are, at this point, free agents." With the last words, there was a distinct sense of him licking his lips.

[ScytheKnight]

Nitro watches the strange figure walking around the room, his enhanced eyes picking out much of what she does, but looking directly at her is slightly disconcerting. Although taken physical form, she is an entity of pure magic, and Nitro has been using digital vision for so long he's basically forgotten what it's like to look with normal eyes, and here was something that defeated his augmented senses. He could see her of course, she had taken physical form, light hit this, refracted off in a predictable colour spectrum and was picked up the the cameras of his eyes. But he couldn't suppress a feeling that the digital image he was seeing was only a shadow, he could see nothing really special but watching how the room changed, he knew that this figure was.

It was then that Goodnight re-entered, and here was something his eyes could understand. His eyes travel up and down the outfit and smiles, it's not a charming or lecherous smile, it's a smile of one dangerous professional recognizing another and getting ready to do what they do best. His hair, coat and eyes flicker a little as he engages their systems, but this time it's different a cold, distant star-field.

Then two things happened, the strange, unsettling figure handed him the thorned flower, and the message came through from the rest of the team. The smile broadened and became a little more dangerous as he takes the flower and tucks it into his armor where it can be seen. "I rea'on we ge' 'ere pe'sonally. Tha 'trix is s'ill spo'y an' i' aina gonna ta'e much jammin te ma'e i' impossi'le fer me te connec' te anythin. So 'ell me summin, sin's ye kno' 'his pla'e so well." He suddenly leans back to raise a leg, drawing attention to perhaps his most unusual enhancement, his chrome cyberfeet, there's no sign that anything higher is replaced. He suddenly grins and a cyber-skate extends from the base of the foot "'ow fla' an' le'el issa groun' tween 'ere an' tha' 'otel?"

Not yet waiting for an answer he retracts the skate and stands, picking up the milspec shotgun and detaching the drum, another red marked one taking its place. He shrugs the starry coat back into place and checks the sawnoff is still in the modified holster. This done he gives the figure a graceful bow and Goodnight a small nod of readiness.

[gilga]

"Did ISaint just gave a ritual mage information for free?" Solo did not like at all where this is going for. A thought of great darkness surfaced his mind "Should I kill that mage if things do not work out? " It made sense to Solo, he tried to kill them and he was just told that the asset was with the family, but he did not ask about the family only about the asset he used singular clearly they weren't of interest. Why would the man care about the family? Do they have a material link of the family for some dark ritual? did they lost connection to one of the family members they used as a willing or not agent?

"You do not get to ask questions, we already told you too much. Our employment status is none of the NDM business. If you are going to keep asking us questions my watchers will kindly ask you to leave."  He knew about Art, Solo figured they were connected to Arts fate, no they are not feeding NDM information about them this meet was a mistake. They should have let him speak to a watcher in a remote location.

[Kinkerbell]

Goodnight's Doss
Goodnight grins. "It was a subway tunnel. As long as your balance is good, its as flat as you could possibly need." She performs a quick once-over to make sure all of her killing devices are in their proper place, draws her pistol in a smooth motion and checks the magazine, racking the slide and nodding, satisfied. Then she is gone, out the door at a dead run. She's not as fast as Victoria, but beyond a certain point such differences are academic, and at her speed she's only just this side of street legal in most of Seattle. She trusts Nitro to keep up, and as she runs she fires off a quick message to Isaint.

<<Nitro and I are en route, less than a minute, tops. Talk to me, loverboy. What am I looking at and how would you prefer I approach? Chill? Sweet? Shock and fragging awe?>>

Nacht
Vicki keeps an ear open, listening to the conversation in the lounge, and she moves so that she has a clear shot at the door, and thus the lounge. For a moment she considers trying a shot at the Druid, but she refrains. Then a wicked idea occurs to her, and she grins and reaches for her little satchel, withdrawing a half-dozen little reagents. There's what looks like a small brass lipstick cylinder, the "lipstick" actually candle tallow dyed with carnelian roses. A small square of silk with a slightly-smeared lip print (in blood, natch) goes down opposite it, and four more objects follow: a silver ring bearing a celtic knot, a black silk satchet bearing an ounce of soil from County Cork, a ribbon made of fine threads that bears the opening lines of The Portrait of Dorian Grey in platinum, and a small silver coin embossed with a snowflake on one side and a treble clef on the other. The six objects go down in a circle, forming a hexagram, and Vicki sends a message to Al, trusting his judgment despite herself, for his concern about the family is plain to see.

<<Hey Grandpa, I don't like this. Yon hippy out there gives me the creeping heebies and I'm a banshee. He says he's celtic, I say he wouldn't know ireland if it bit him on the hoop. I've got the ritual laid out to summon a celtic spirit and we can see if he twigs to her, but I need you to make sure he doesn't open the door and tumble to what I'm doing before she's here and squared away. Think of it as hiring really specialized muscle in case things go to smash, if that helps.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint received the message and replied, pointedly ignoring the new handle she had given him.
<<There's a neo-druid from the government trying to gouge us for information. At the moment he is asking for info he already has to see if he can trust our other answers. I'd prefer a calm appearance - as far as I can assess him, he is a  Brit. So he'll probably respond more to subtle banter and backhanded threats.>>

To their guest he said:
"Yeah, we are aware of that. But I have a hard time picturing you cooperating with anybody - you guys seem more the dominating and scheming type. If I had to guess, I'd say you don't have a laboratory ready to look for a cure. But you have leverage to force others to divulge information to you. The Doc would be just another bargaining chip, wouldn't he?"

He had fixed the glove with a small strap. Now he was removing the shock glove from his other hand and bit down hard on the soft flesh between his thumb and  his index finger so that a small bead of blood appeared.

[adamu]

Al received the text from the freak in the miniskirt. Well, he thought, devil-worshippers gonna devil-worship. Not like her soul could be any more damned than it already was. And he was more than happy to keep the damned door shut.

He gave her a nod. Unless things went crazy anyway, neither he nor their companions outside had any intention of opening it.

Out the lounge, the hooded figure shifted his gaze between Solo and Isaint. And chuckled, as one would at the antics of an impertinent child. "Clearly you're not going to believe the answers I give you, and in my current form I have no way to be convincing. So in order to speed things along, I will assume the character that you assume of me. So let us premise that I am a diabolical fiend bent only on world domination, and hopeful that in addition to using the Pelletieres I can also find a way to torture and humiliate them...just for fun. Now, on that basis, I would invite you to turn the four of them over to my agents as immediately as is practicable. In exchange, not only will my organization cease to hunt you, but we will publicize our acquisition of the asset, so that Saeder-Krupp and NeoNet and the rest also lose interest in you."

He paused, and then, as though it was an afterthought, he added, "And just as a sort of bonus, we can offer you a nuyen compensation in the six-digit range. I am sure that professionals of your caliber can come up with a scheme ensuring that both sides keep their end of the deal. Now, how many are you, so that I can come up with the number I should put in front of the five zeroes?"

[Jack_Spade]

"Oh no, I don't think you torture for fun. Cutting the Summer King's throat from behind is more your style, isn't it.
And for your information, you would have to prepare 32 paychecks."
[spoiler]
Fast talk:
(Con+Charisma) Fast Talk: 11d6t5 3 [11d6t5=5, 1, 6, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, 2, 6, 3]
I assume any negative dice pool modifiers are compensated by Isaint's street cred

[/spoiler]
"I don't say your offer isn't intriguing, but... Well, as I said, this is no slave market. Wait a second."

<<Al, are you getting all this? These jokers say they are willing to spend over a million to get their hands on the doc. Be so kind and relay that to him and ask him if he'd be interested in their bargain or what he'd like to know about them as potential employers.>>

Isaint forged ahead: "So, besides our compensation, what would you have to offer him and his family?"

While he said that, he begann to put a single drop of blood into each of the crosses over the knuckles of glove.

#150

[gilga]

"First of all, once we sell SK and NeoNet will lose interest in us so will NDM so do not promess us what we already have. 100,000 a piece is a nice offer - but I still get the feeling that you came here fishing for information rather than negotiating. No offense, but we are not sealing the deal for this kind of money - to runners our level it is casual money nothing life changing. 
You guys are hermetics... get creative with what you offer because your pockets are clearly not deep enough."

[ScytheKnight]

As soon as Goodnight was out the door he followed, as a measure of respect he waited until he was off the wooden floors before deploying the skates while still at a run. The skates gave him an edge, but he was more used to moving fast on wheels than on foot. All he could do was keep moving and try to keep up... something that he rapidly started to fail at. Fragging hell she is FAST! I think she could outrun my old Americar.

[adamu]

<<I ain't gittin' shit in here 'ceptin' fer you an' Solo. Transceivers don't pick up no ghosts. But I'll tell the Doc, an' you all decide if yer friend in there can be trusted.>>

Shotgun in hand, he stepped over to where the family sat tensely on the edge of a king-size bed. "They's still talkin', but deal onna table so far is a big fat paycheck an' some sorta Neo-Druids."

The mere mention of the organization making the offer drained the faces of Doctor and Mrs. Pelletiere. The Doc swallowed, and spoke, his tone almost pleading. "Listen, Al, I know this is all extremely dangerous for you and your friends. And we appreciate all you're doing so very much. And the longer this goes on, the more my own family is at risk. But for...for their sake, and probably yours, do not send us into their clutches."

Outside in the lounge, the apparition chuckled. "I assume you refer to some sort of support network? It would not surprise me, you are obviously top-tier professionals. I'll also assume you are inflating the number and expand my offer to one-point-six. Which ups it from six to seven digits I believe. As for the family, the offer is to you, not them. Remember, you've decided I'm a diabolical slave-master beyond human feeling - you've already decided to disbelieve anything I might tell you regarding the fate of the doctor and his family."

And then Al was back in the team's ears. "Doc here pretty much reckons he'd rather keep his family inna firin' line than put them at the mercy of whatever sumbitch ya got out there. He says no deal in all caps.>>

The visitor turned to Solo. "What you know of S-K wouldn't fill a thimble. But if our pockets are not deep enough for you, perhaps they are for your friends. In any case, you are stalling - if it is magical favors you are after, there is litle you cannot buy for your sale of a million-and-a-half nuyen."

[Jack_Spade]

It was this moment, that the crosses flared up with white fire, making the scales glow for a second in a pretty cherry red.

Isaint grinned apologetic: "I'm sorry, new toy, you know?
Us trusting you is not the issue here. It's the doc you have to convince. Even if you'd offer us the world - I wouldn't give him to you without his consent.
So you better come up with your plans for them if you have any interest in the success of your visit here."

[gilga]

Solo's face remain silent "Now you are talking sense... I prefer to be paid with information and access to information but my desires are not everything.  The thing is - you are in the astral and there is no way to record any sort of agreement. You seem to be tossing money around this clearly is important for you. I need evidence that you can pay what you claim and a digital recording to say that the offer was made.

You can write it off as a business offer to Digital Surveillance and Security LTD. The company was actually registered in Ireland, it is still a tax refuge even under the new name. Once they have a standing offer for security services with the amount you suggested as a fine for breaking the agreement. We can continue... but before that - you can offer us rainbows and unicorns talking in the astral is cheap.

Now go get it approved and extend a formal offer to the company in question.  We will discuss our options once we are sure that the offer is real.  We have further security issues to deal with, and cannot attend for long negotiations. You came for us, make us an offer by our own terms.

So far the NDM only showed that it is willing to toss perhaps 10k in reagents and some talent that it is cheap for an organization of mages to access... what were your spirits planning to do with the family I honestly do not know.  This is not my job to find out, and despite some ideals about my team mates - when the money is real it can move mountains.  There is just no evidence that the goods are worth that much for you guys... if you were representing SK I'd believe you."

He texts ISaint mentally >>> you expose too much. Be corrupted let them make an offer. They shouldn't know our true motivations. Even if we do not take it, it will make it easier to negotiate further offers.

[Kinkerbell]

Goodnight doesn't slow her breakneck pace until she's almost to the suite of rooms at Nacht. She crashes to a graceful halt, makes sure her hair and clothing is all set in place and that her collar, blade, and the writing on her coat are clearly visible, then swaggers into the room with a cocksure half-smile. She looks for Victoria, then at Isaint and Solo, and finally at the apparition before them.*

She does not appear impressed.

Her own masking is hardly complete, but it mutes the edges of Goodnight's blazing power normally. Now she drops it and lets Macha, The Raven's Gift show through completely. There's no threat in the display of power; her foci remain dormant and her spirits uncalled, but it is clear to any and all that she is not going to take anybody's drek, not today. She tilts her head slightly, her glasses sliding down her nose on cue to reveal fushia eyes filled with a mixture of appreciation, irritation, and curiosity, and stands with a hip cocked and a knee slightly bent, setting off her slender legs against the swirling form of her coat and the angles of her weapons before she lets her lips curl up into a slow smile.

"I see you've met the country cousin." Goodnight tells the druid with a jerk of her head at Isaint and his still-cooling glove. "Don't mind him. Sometimes, down here, what you need is a dog, and he's as good as a mastiff." The tip of her tongue teases one lip. "And he's considerably easier to feed." Her eyes flick to Solo, then back at the druid. "As for the other, you'll have to forgive him. He has this thing about being all business, like he's in a boardroom rather than a battlefield. More clerk than Cúchulainn, I'm afraid."

Goodnight shrugs one shoulder as if to apologize for slumming with the company she does, timing it with a sway of her hips and a heavy breath to cause all the various lines of her body to stand out for a moment as she advances into the room. Crossing to the bar and turning, she leans against the old wood and brass and drapes her arms out to either side. "So, Oak-Knower," she begins, using the translation for the Celtic word for druid, "you've made an offer, you've made a threat, and you've made a joke. So why don't we speak like civilized people and you can tell us why you actually expect these fine gentlemen to entertain your offer. You'll need this team's goodwill to take him, after all, and words are both cheaper and easier on the real estate than another squad of spirits." She pushes her glasses back up with one finger and adds, "And perhaps why you need his family as well? The Doctor is valuable, yes, and perhaps his wife as well, but I thought that the New Order got out of the virgin-sacrificing bit a long time ago."

Behind her purple shades, she's typing again, just a fast message to Solo and Isaint. <<Sorry about the casual insults, but its easier to talk if he thinks I'm a fringe element rather than a part of your team.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint replied: <<I'm not telling him anything he doesn't know already. When we were betrayed they also got data on us.
I have a certain reputation - no-one would belief that I'd be willing to participate in slavery.
Also, don't push to hard or he'll notice that we have no intention to close a bargain.>>
To Goodnight he wrote: <<De nada, just don't pulverize him before he spills the beans.>>

To Jay he said: "If I may introduce: This is our local guide and one of the reasons you should not assume that you know exactly how many people are working in and with this team or what we are capable of if you piss us off."

[ScytheKnight]

Nitro was just glad he'd been given directions as Goodnight continues to outpace him steadily. Realizing trying to match her pace would exhaust him he slows down slightly arriving as Goodnight is striding through the front door. Settling just around the corner he brings up his RCC's imagelink and start reprogramming, a Virtual machine is setup while a scrubbing program deals with some of the ever-present static, a Clearsight program as well as Maneuvering and Stealth protocols for his Fly-Spys. This done her straightens his arm, three of the mini-drones crawling out from under his coat and flying out to scope the surrounding area, not his full net, but he hoped enough as he tries to keep tabs on them with all his noise reduction.

This done he sub-vocals into the transceiver built into his armor, sending it to the rest of the team. "Nitro 'ere. I'm jussaroun' tha cour'er, sen'in' ou' a few flys te scou' tha area, ho'fully no o'er sur'rises"