Johannes was surprised, but quickly produced a sincere (or at least sincere-looking) smile to the numerous questions of the astrally projected mage. As he was preparing his answers, Waywalker followed by Jack added their own questions and the Johnson obviously opted to wait and hear all of them before replying.
"First of all, thanks a lot for your thoroughness and keen observation. I wish most of my runners were half smart as you apparently are - it would make my job far more simple. Let me also apologize, because some of your questions echoes to missing items from my initial briefing."
After a brief pause, the ork goes on.
"So, let me start by filling those gaps - and first, with our escort "du jour". Yes, we have more information on Trixie. First here is a picture of her." Simultaneously an ARO appears displaying a somewhat fuzzy picture of young, slender woman. She has long and curvy hair, a straight noose, along with nice blue eyes. She is winking at the camera - which led to display her datajack on her left side. She also appears to have a neon-blue nanotattoo on the right side of her face. However the image is a bit too fuzzy, and with the wrong angle on it - plus the fact that the room is pretty dark, it make impossible to assert what the tattoo could actually be representing.
"As you can see the picture was taken in a local club, in the North of Essen, called Nurasol. It was last Saturday and we've heard that she might be a regular there. And known by the name of Trixie - surprisingly. I'm quite sorry to have not mention that earlier."
The Ork gives the runners a few seconds to absorbs the information before going on.
"Regarding the shipment, no sorry, I can not disclose the content of it, neither can I tell you what happened during the meet - or, for that matter, where the meet happened. I can not also confirm (or deny) that you are working for the original client of "Monsieur Bernie". I would just recommend you all to not make hasty conclusion here. As I've heard some many good runners said often: "nothing kill you more faster than a wrong assumption, short of a dragon". I also have no intel, for now at least, on the probable competition or other parties involved. I do know that the shipment was smuggled into the country and required a rather large transporter, so it is my understanding that you'll need the vehicle of a size of a van when you secure it. Alternatively, I could arrange a pick up."
Shacking his head, and the M.Johnson became again apologetic:
"Gosh, I realized now that I've forgot to mention something earlier. I do expect you to need to synchronize with me during the run, so I'll give a burner phone number on which you'll be able to join 24/24. Depending on how fast you making progress, but also ... Well, let's say "how the game afoot unfold in the meantime", we'll need to re-prioritize and strategize."
Johannes stops again to gather his thoughts.
"Let me see again what other question you had... Oh, right, this was an other very good point from mister Rex."
Turning to the ghost like figure of the mage, he carries on.
"You are right both S-K and the Sternschultz have both a file and a bounty of Monsieur Bernard. However, I've been told, it's not an active file, so it may not easy to pull it out of the archive.We do know his case is in the hand of a detective called Juergen Schulz, who is attached to a precinct of Dusseldorf."
Johannes stops again, pondering probably if he should or not reveal what his coming next.
"We also have a location - in the matrix, of a host of the Saeder Krupp where his file may be accessible (if not archived that is to say). Apparently, Monsieur Bernard had some "bad words" with a special SK Agent named Ulf, some month ago. I've been informed that the report of this event and the file maybe be living in this host. However, I have no intel on which physical location or Matrix user in Essen, this file maybe attached to. I have not mentioned this at first, because this is obviously a long shot - but maybe not for talented runners like you ?"
Again, Johannes pauses - most likely to look at some note he did, on the fly, in his AR, but start speaking again almost immediately:
"Oh, and M.Rex, regarding your offer to use a spirit - or was it a Kami ? It would be definitely an excellent option, but it is pretty clear, for what I know that Monsieur Bernard is not currently hiding in the 'plex. We expect him to be still nearby, probably somewhere around 40km tops, to the sprawl limits. He does have a lot of ties to the 'plex as the fore mentioned Trixie, and a lot of history, like the Saeder Krupp mishap I just mentioned. But also of course a lot of contacts and allies that can help me - far more than anywhere else in the ADL. And this history with the 'plex is naturally leading me to answer an other of your questions M.Rex. The one regarding the alleged rumors of organ legging."
Taking a brief pause, this time clearly for dramatic effect.
"First let me replied to Jack regarding whether or not, your target is a coyote or a smuggler. He is actually both, as far as I know. It's been moving both people and cargo across the borders - but apparently, more cargo than people in the last months. It does not seems to be a sort of choice on his side, he is probably simply taking the jobs he is getting offered. Back to the organ legging, the reason I've barely mentioned this lead is, as you can imagine, time is of the essence in this run, and I'm not convinced this will bare fruit. It's not substantiated may therefore yield no result and end up being a red herring. That being said, I do defer to your judgment and experience in this matter. Here is the intel I got."
A series of ARO is being spawned by his commlink, as the Ork comment:
"As far as this rumors goes, he seems that Bernie's ride has been spot, two weeks ago, delivering or picking up some cargo from a tower in Dusseldorf. The cargo appears to belong to a small Japan corp that is all but a proxy of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies. No surprise as MCT controls most of this area anyway."
"However the end customer of the small corp appears to be a very legit business, a small tourist shop, selling "Japan trinkets". Well, they are described as "authentic, hand craft Japanese art piece", but I guess you know what they are exactly. Apparently the regular delivery services - arriving by drone from a nearby MCT facility had a malfunction and, as a legal freelancer - probably Bernie has a Fake SIN as a "VTOL for hire" freelancer, his VTOL was brought in."
"Actually, it's not clear if the VTOL was the one from Bernie or just one looking just like it. And the rumor that he actually picked up some "organ legging cargo" during this stop is just that for now. With the file I sent you, you now have all the related info, name of the shop owner, contract, report of malfunction from the delivery services and so on. Feel free to explore this further, but do keep in mind it is race more than anything else."
As the Johnson is clearly reaching the end of the first round of questions the runner, Jack (or Fox) is still trying to read him. And he is honestly quite puzzled. Was this guy acting clumsy or forgetfully on purpose ? Like this Columbo character, that his grand parents were always so fond of ? Or was he as careless, and giddy ? - as he seems to appear. At this point, the runner fells like it could be one way or the other. Which leaves him both puzzled and a bit frustrated to be honest...
On his side, Waywalker is trying to figure out in his head which route could the Belgian have taken. But with no idea of the provenance of the shipment, but also the nature of the cargo, it is a daunting task. He can see dozens of routes that could make sense and even more good sites for a delivery or a discreet meet.
"well, I think I've covered most of your questions, didn't I ? Let me know if I forgot anything or if you have new ones for me. We can certainly afford an other round of questions, but then, I would recommend you start your investigations anyway... As already pointed, you can always reach me later on with the number I just gave you and, as already stressed out, time is of the essence here."
Satisfied, the Ork grabs his bottle, finishes his beer in one, long sip, and then looks at the runner... Still with a friendly smile on his face.