[jonathanc]

Historical note: This adventure takes place in early 2070; as such, Lone Star still has the police contract in Seattle, the Tempo craze has not yet occurred, The Ork Underground has no prospect of becoming an official district, and Hestaby has not yet burned down Lofwyr's holdings in Dubai.

If none of the above makes any sense to you, please disregard this disclaimer.


Winter in Seattle, and like most days, it's raining. Work has been lean, with no high-profile corp or syndicate wars, and Lone Star out in force for another one of their "visibility campaigns". You, like many lesser-known Shadowrunners, just don't have the connections to keep the work rolling in during times like this. You need more street cred, but without a decent run on the horizon, that's going to be a tall order. The day passes without incident as you make your usual rounds, but as the day passes into evening you receive a call from Smiley, that ork fixer who gave you his card a couple of weeks ago.


"Hey baby, I think I got a job for you. Looks pretty simple, totally doable with your skillset. I'm gonna be calling up some of those other cats I saw you with when we first met - I need you all to meet Mr. Johnson at 21:00. The spot is Infinity, downtown. There's this hot 'lil elf tending bar - tell her you're with the Johnson party and she'll show you where to go. Dress for success. I got a reputation to uphold, so I don't want you getting held up at the door for looking like yesterday's trash."


Perhaps you'll be making rent this month after all.

[user-unknown]

The message from Smiley overlaid itself on Lynx's view of the rain-slicked road ahead and she sighed inwardly as she read it.  She had heard about Smiley through a friend a few weeks back and had met for a quick chat where they'd discussed the current lack of work, but at the time she'd expected her normal jobs to pick up soon and she hadn't seriously considered actually needing to got out 'on a run'.  She normally wouldn't get involved in the hands-on part of running the shadows, much preferring to remain on the sidelines, but the recent lack of activity on the gang front had resulted in a serious decrease in demand for her services.  Coupled with the recent crackdown by Lone Star which required her to spend a lot more time planning each job, she'd barely made anything this month - even the profit from the delivery of contraband electronics she'd made earlier that afternoon would only cover a week's rent.

"Well, haven't really got a choice I suppose," she thought wryly to herself, "This dry spell shows no signs of stopping any time soon, and a job is a job.  Besides, if what Smiley says is true, should be fairly straightforward.  Might even enjoy it!"

Her mind made up, she fired off a quick message to Smiley acknowledging the meeting time with a thought.  "Should be able to get home in about twenty mins or so, which will give me about an hour to get ready before I have to leave.  Now, what to wear...", she thought as she drove home through the darkening streets of Seattle.

------ Later that evening --------

Lynx stood off to one side in the main bar area sipping a mojito, and kept a discreet eye on the elf girl behind the bar to see who asked for the Johnson party.  While the black dress she was wearing was last year's style and would probably get her laughed at by party girls at the city's top nightspots, it hadn't caused any problems at the door at least.  She'd arrived early to the club, traffic not being quite as bad as she had expected, and had decided to spend a little time checking to see who else had been invited to the meet before introducing herself.

[spoiler]
I suppose roll Perception to try and spot other people coming in?
Int 3 + Skill 4 + Vision Magnification 3: perception (10d6.hits(5)=4) [2,5,6,3,1,1,5,1,1,5] = (4)
[/spoiler]

[Novocrane]

Holding a glass of Jimmy Lee's best scotch under the light, he smiled. The drek was almost too good, and too expensive, to sully by putting your lips to it, but Jimmy didn't mind. Not the scotch, not the car, not the apartment. Jimmy was dead. Fiftyfour'd, to be precise. So long as Tian Lu kept the payments high and regular, Mr Lee was on "indefinite supported leave". The glass cracked slightly under brushed steel fingers, as he thought on just how little work there had been recently to keep things afloat, let alone support other costs.

When Smiley called, he almost tossed the glass while flicking it over to text only. The reply was terse, but then he wasn't about to blow hot air up his fixer unless the job needed it. "I'll be there," he mashed back into the commlink.

First things first, though. He was going to finish that scotch.

== Infinity ==

Tian Lu cut through the crowd outside; an imposing figure in a split trenchcoat of black and silver hexagonal patterns, obvious cyber showing through slits as he walked. A solid reflective mask swept from his hairline down to a sharp point over his nose. After a quiet exchange with the lead bouncer at the door, he walked in, tipping 500¥ in the process.

Inside, leaning back against the bar, he kept an ear on the elf cutie. It was just a matter of time before someone said the magic words. Smiley reckoned he knew the rest of the hired 'runners, so he might as well nod to any other early comers. Drink in one hand and cigar in the other, he had all the appearance of looking relaxed, while still ready to flip tasers on the crowd if things went South.
[spoiler]Audio: 16 dice, 5 hits
Visual: 12 dice, 5 hits[/spoiler]

[irisheathen]

Ryan looked down into his beer and sighed before sending his response "Yeah I’ll be there Smiley." He’d worked with Smiley a few times before and most of the jobs had gone over smoothly, but Ryan couldn’t help but have that familiar twinge of uncertainty as he stood up. He walked over to his closet and peered inside at the rumpled pile of dirty jeans some with obvious blood stains. “Of course I’ve gotta by new clothes, why wouldn’t I?” He drained the rest of his beer and shot a message to Silvia as he started the job of putting everything in order for the evening. “Hey Darlin’ I was wondering if you might know anything about a club called Infinity. Hell I don’t even know what I should wear to the place.” He paused and thought about how to end the message because their relationship status was a fluid thing. “Hope I can see you soon.”

[spoiler]
Looking for info on what to expect inside (layout, security, general info), how to get past bouncer, any one who might be of interest, what kind of clothes to wear, ect.
[/spoiler]

[Ethan]

Hitch's Apartment

Hitch looks askance at the Manservant drone as he enters his new apartment, still not used to the layout after only a week living in it. Stupid thing seems to only be working when I get home... he mutters mentally as he kicks off his shoes while shrugging out of the damp leather jacket. A late, and fruitless, night spent at Russo's rumpled his suit and his attitude. He gave the drone a kick as he walked by, forgetting he had just removed his shoes, then hopped around on one foot mouthing curses at the machine.

An hour later, he woke up in his now even more rumpled suit, curled up on his faux-leather couch. A plate of a good approximation of eggs and some krill-bacon was waiting on the coffee table. "Worried I'll replace ya?" Hitch asked the idling Manservant in the corner. He shrugged then dug right into the plate.

Some time later, parts of his clothing had been strewn about as comfort dictated, Hitch was well into a raging discussion on which set of Star Wars trilogies were the best when a message popped into his overlay. He only jumped into the Matrix when he had to, otherwise he left it on with multiple AROs showing whatever bit of entertainment or knowledge he wanted at the moment.

The only reason he read Smokey's--Smiley's--message was the time code. "Damn it's late," he muttered struggling to get up amidst clacking bones and protesting muscles. He read the message in the shower and pulled up the publicly accessible info on Infinity--he'd been there before and reviewed the notes he left for himself, which wasn't much.

Opening his writePad app, Hitch crafted a personalized thank you note to Smiley and confirming he'll be attending. Even after paper became unnecessary, Etiquette 101 was still about handwritten notes. He carved the image into the shape of a smiley face and sent it off.

The manservant drone was laying out his other good suit when he walked out of the bathroom. It scurried away, with some dignity, and Hitch shouted thanks after its retreating form.


Infinity

Hitch made a show at arriving in front of Infinity, parking his motorcycle amongst the others across the front entrance only ten minutes before 21:00. He approached the bouncer with confidence and a little smile, not mindful of the machine pistol in his concealed holster. The leather jacket he wore on top of the suit did a good enough job of hiding the bulk.

In truth, he'd arrived a good half hour earlier but stopped a short distance away. He let out his two, nearly invisible drones, and scouted the area. It was almost expected of him to hack into Infinity's node and peruse the guest list, but he wouldn't do that tonight. Tonight was about covering one's ass and preventing one's foot from entering a mouth or any other orifice.

Hitch didn't bother scanning the crowd for familiar faces, just greeting those who looked like they wanted to be greeted, and smoothly made his way to the bar. He ordered iced water, the expensive kind, and flashed a smile at the pretty elf lady behind the counter. He chatted her up for a few minutes then brought up that he had to meet the Johnson party.

[DiscoDwarf]

"Maverick" - he really ought to think up a more creative name - was among the first customers sitting at the currently mostly empty stripper joint "Hellizabeth" was supposed to work at later tonight. Lighting a cigarette from his damp pack, he took the beer he'd ordered and seated himself upfront, scanning the messages on his 'link. Yeah, sure, I need a penile implant to impress the ladies... really should start paying in cash when I'm here. Some more spam filed before his eyes, each one deleted by a tap of his finger on a virtual UI. Smiley's message came up as the disgruntled adept was about to give up. Well, that could be interesting, and it looks right up my alley too.

Looking up the incoming commcode, he shot a quick audio message back to Smiley. "I'll be there at 21:00, but don't expect me to wear some NuZoot or whatever's trendy right now." He then quickly shot a message to his favorite dancer to see when she'd be on stage. He still had a few hours to kill after all.

At the Infinity
When Maverick finally got to the door for the club, he'd been waiting in line for nearly an hour already. Even his waterproof duster had finally called it quits, and he had had no choice but to buy a stupid umbrella from a clever peddler hawking his wares to the soaked club-goers who had not the privilege of being on the guest list. The thing had the dubious benefit of having an illuminated shaft in the middle, and if he was savvy into 20th century movies, Maverick might have felt like he was holding a lightsaber topped with hexagonal canvas. The bouncers looked about as happy to let him in as he had been happy to soak in the rain, and he didn't really want tipping either of them until they subtly pointed out there was a "cover charge" for people wanting in. Maverick had been nice enough to leave his body armor at home, and only carried his Predator under his left arm, and the clip wasn't even inserted, being in his coat pocket mostly likely wet now.

Once inside, he subscribed to the club's PAN with his public commlink, he discards the various offers he immediately receives, keeping his vision clear except for a map overlay of the place and the AR menu of the bar, through which he pays for another beer that he will be picking up as soon as he makes his way to the bar, nodding to Hitch, Lynx and Tian Lu as he notices each of them. Once he spots the "elf cutie" - he's yet to see an elf who wasn't, but when mentioned it, she had to be a real looker - he waves her over, using the ordered beer as a pretense to get her to look at him. As she hands him the bottle, he makes an AR bubble visible only to her comm with the phrase "Where's the Johnson party?".

OOC Note: From Smiley/Jonathanc's first post, it would seem some if not all of the characters know each other, if only from having seen the others' faces at a meet with Smiley, so I'm playing along with that. We can retcon later if needed. Also, having used club Infinity in my own games, I'm aware of its layout and perks, such as the pair of trolls at the door and color-coded privacy rooms, though I haven't done the On the Run mission itself.
Perception (Visual) 14 dice (Int 4 + Per 3 + Enhanced Perception 4 + Visual Enhancer 3), buying 3 hits... hell Novocrane, how to you add up to 16/12 dice?

[obidancer]

McClane rubbed his eyes, careful not to dislodge his contact lenses. He had spent pretty much all day looking for new spell formulae and his image link was displaying the rewarding 'Download Complete' signal over the left side of his sight. This also meant another good chunk of Nuyens taken from his account and if he didn't get a job soon, it was gonna be a rough month. He was craving a drink, a well deserved one for once. But the fridge and cupboards of the cubicle that served of kitchen were empty. The only bottle he found barely had enough left in it to wet his lips. A smirk appeared on McCain's face. He could summon powerful elementals and  shape mana into spells, and yet could get his grocery on time.
He put his coat on, and flipped his hat on his head, ready to brave Seattle's winter for some downtime at a bar, when his link alerted him of an incoming message. Smiley. A possible Job. Couldn't be better timing. He sent a quick reply to acknowledge the call. 
He tied up his tie, tucked his shirt in and polished his shoes. He removed the machine gun from the concealed holster inside his coat. Bringing a weapon to a club would call for trouble. He was about to leave when he remembered his car was gone, burnt in the explosion that took the rest of his former team... He called for a taxi...

At the Infinity.
He was early but already a line was forming. With no intention to get wet, he walked passed he crowd directly toward the Bouncers. A massive Troll stopped him. He could have tried bribing him if he had any money to spare but that hadn;t been the case for quite some time now. So he relied on what he was good at. He concentrated on the Toll's eye and with low powered spell, to remain discreet, inserted a suggestion in his brain: It's fine, I am VIP and should step in now.
Once (and If) inside, he made his way to the bar, trying to ignore as much as possible the influx of AROs and the loud music hurting his ear. He finally got the drink had been waiting for for what seemed hours now. He savored it, as much as the watered down synthalcohol could be savored. He set his earbuds' sound filter to focus on the elf bartender and simply waited. Other will come and he'll have a better idea of whom he'll be working with.

[jonathanc]

Note regarding weapons/armor: Armored clothing is quite common in 2070, but Infinity does have a gun check policy in place. Before you can enter, you are taken through a MAD scanner and wanded as well. Weapons are electronically tagged and held in a secure, individual safe keyed to your SIN (or fake SIN). Weapons are stored unloaded, of course.


Infinity is an experience that is hard to put into words. Once you step inside, the sense of space and distance seems to change...dark glass and mirrors create a feeling of  near-infinite space, and cutting-edge holographic systems project images that seem all too real, until you reach out to touch them. It is a challenge to get a good read on the room with so many distractions, but you are all professionals, and find your way to the bar, and each other.

The bartender doesn't give her name, but gladly points you towards the meeting place, one of Infinity's private back rooms that are officially for "private parties". When you arrive at the meeting room, you are greeted by a troll of medium height, looking to be in his late 30's. He's ruggedly handsome, if you're into that sort of thing, and dressed in a purple and chartreuse suit in the current style.


"Welcome," he says, smiling. "Please sit down. My name is Johnson, and I believe that we all have a mutual acquaintance named Smiley. Can I get you a drink?"

[irisheathen]

After getting Silvia's message Ryan swung by the MegaThrift and scored a black suit edged in red Synth-Satin and a used devil mask for cheap. "She said dress like I'm going to a party... why not a masqurade?" Ryan had learned that sometimes it pays to be a little overly cautious when you had a criminal SIN. The mask would distract and hide his face from any security cameras and besides he could always take it off.

-------------------Club Infinity

At 5 till Ryan walked straight past the excited throngs waiting to enter to the two troll bouncers at the door. "I'm here for a private party my name should be on the list, under Patches." If the Johnson or Smiley hadn't put his name on the list, well then they were the nonprofessionals not him. He had decided against carrying any weapons so he didn't have to check anything at the door but he did have some tranq patches in his pocket.
After making past the door he spotted the bartender Smiley had told him about. He caught her attention and  politely asked where the Johnson party was meeting while turning on the recording unit built into his cyber eyes. As he walked to the private room the elf had indicated he was reminded how much he hated clubs by the thumping music and holographs, but he did his best to ignore them. 

When you arrive at the meeting room, you are greeted by a troll of medium height, looking to be in his late 30's. He's ruggedly handsome, if you're into that sort of thing, and dressed in a purple and chartreuse suit in the current style.
"Welcome," he says, smiling. "Please sit down. My name is Johnson, and I believe that we all have a mutual acquaintance named Smiley. Can I get you a drink?"

   He looked around at the gathered group and answered the Ork with a smile hidden by the mask. “Scotch on the rocks please.”

[Ethan]

HITCH

Hitch smiles sincerely. "Mr. Johnson, thank you, no, this'll do," he says, clinking the ice in his glass as he shakes it mildly.

He sits down smoothly, almost relaxed and waits expectantly for Mr. Johnson to start the pitch.

[SeriousOne338]

Marcus is finding his day a total bust, he’d had his little gunsmith shop open for eight hours and only two bites. One a stupid street punk wanting something from the new age lightweight ceramic compost gun, not something he did business in. The second was an old timer looking to sell his stuff, it pained Tex’s heart to see someone looking to sell but he didn’t have any available cash to buy. It was after the old timer leaving when Tex got the call, his old RenRaku comlink chirped twice, before Tex answered it. “Smiley, you got some work? Good the sixes have been yelling to be let out again. I’ll close up shot and head out soon”
   It takes twenty minutes to close up shop, and lock the front door. Then he heading into his modest apartment behind the shop front, so shower and get his outfit on, dressed like the cowboy he’d always dress as on runs. It was only then that Marcus opened his gun safe in the back taking out the arsenal, he’d lost his good gear months ago when he sold them to buy his little shop. Now he’d armed himself with some decent backups, two Ruger SuperHawks customized with smartlinks and compensators they were in leather quick draw holsters complete with western design tooled into the leather. It took another thrity minutes to get all his gear settled some more guns a silenced automatic that’s his backup  and a composite extendable baton before getting on his steel horse and heading downtown toward infinity.

@Infinity:

   Tex arrives at infinity on his steel horse, an old beat up Harley Scorpion chopper, pulling to the clubs marking lot and parking right next to Hitch’s bike. Reaching into a transport box on the Harley rear seat Tex takes out his wide brimmed hat and steps off his bike locking it up. Tex walks past the waiting line having been to Infinity several times, knowing the bouncer Jake from his LoneStar days. They square off for several moments before Tex laughs, “Don’t I’m not here with the Star this time” Passing a nice 50 nuyen tip and Tex walks past. Its inside the entryway that he’s stopped by security again, a new guy takes out a metal detector wand to sweep in for weapons. Tex just raises and eye brow, his guns are in obvious holsters, really? He checks his guns, all three of them and takes his ticket.
   Inside infinity Tex sighs, he hates clubs like this loud and flashy, walking to the bar he glances at the bartender. “I’m here to see a Mister Johnson, also can I get a club soda?”

@The sit down meeting:

Tex takes a seat and says nothing until he takes out a small grey box with a brand name on it, its a white noise generator to Jam anyone bugging the conversion.

“Thank you for the offer but no I already have a drink, I guess this is where we get down to shop talk.” 

[DiscoDwarf]

(Note: Maverick would have freely given up his gun, unloaded, at the door. He has a fake license for it, which he will produce if asked.)

Once he received confirmation from the elf barmaid, Maverick made his way toward the indicated, highlighting it on the map overlaid on his vision, taking his newly acquired beer and umbrella with him. Upon reaching the designated place, he removes his damp duster and drapes it over a chair before sitting down. Raising his bottle in a salute to the Johnson, he politely accepts his offer. "Thanks chummer, this is a beer only in name; vodka'd be nice".

Maverick also greets the others either already present or filing in behind him, frowning slightly as Tex earnestly places the white noise generator on the table; while privacy measures were expected, cutting to business with hardly a word with the prospective employer might come off as brusque. "Yes Mr. Johnson, Smiley said you might require some help with a... business venture of yours."

[obidancer]

-- Before the Meeting --

It wasn't long before everyone had spot each others. The first one he had noticed wasn't necessary the most obvious like the Orks nor the prettiest like the girl in the black dress. It was because they were in the same line of work and his aura was shinning with Magic. McClane took his glass of synthetic whiskey, sent the man a request to subscribe to his PAN and approached him by the bar. His name was Maverick if he remembered correctly and they had in the past to steal each other's job a couple times. McClane had no hard feelings, it was all business, and though their methods were pretty different, he respected the man's skills. Plus, he was Awaken too. Whether the respect was reciprocal McClane didn't know nor cared that much. He probably never cared enough for what people think of him, not helping his bad reputation.
Seems like we're not gonna have to step on each other toes this time. He told Maverick subvocally as he offered his hand.
The others were not as familiar, even if he remembered seeing their faces at least once. The girl, though not the hottest in the club by far, had a certain charm, and with this dress, she could be quite convincing during negotiations. He couldn't quite place the other two men. They were young and inexperience was a real danger in the street, but then again, he had seen youngsters pull out amazing feats before. And they were by far the most adequate with technology which wasn't his case.
That left the two Orks, one dress up like he belonged in an old 2D movie about far west conquest and stuffs, the other having hardly a piece of meat left on his cyborg body. The first one, well, McClane could live with eccentricity or at least tolerate it; the other one -the Chinese Ork- however was gonna be a tough one to handle. McClane never liked nor trusted those who gave up humanity for the betterment of machines. The only blood he could sense on him was of his victims, a killing machine. But trusted or not, he preferred to have the machine on his side rather than against him. If bullets would fly, the Chinese Ork would be the one to hide behind.
It was an eclectic group for sure, and it made McClane wonder what sort of job they were gonna be asked to perform that required this diversity of people. He swallowed the rest of his whiskey in one shot, and add to Maverick: Let see what our Johnson need us for. After You. He let Lynx pass in front, gallantry oblige,  and followed suit into the meeting room.


-- The Meeting Room --
I'll stay with real whiskey answered McClane to the Troll's offer, hoping to get a nice real whiskey on the house, or at least on the Troll's bill. Taking a seat on the side, he switched his perception to Astral and scanned the room and Troll.

[spoiler] McClane: Assencing the Room and Troll Johnson
 McClane: 10E5 => 4 | die: D6, ones: 1

4 successes[/spoiler]

[Novocrane]

Tian Lu left for the private room the Johnson had booked, but not before slinging a crude AR follow-up message to the elf behind the bar.

"Make mine a G3 tequila."
He might as well enjoy it, til the troll got to the point. He wasn't going to trust any first impressions, either, but he hadn't picked up anything from the motley group other than the usual wariness of meeting people you barely knew for illegal business over drinks.

[jonathanc]

Mr. Johnson turns to a small wetbar concealed in the wall and begins pouring drinks: a whiskey, a scotch, a shot of tequila, and a glass of vodka, all poured neat. He places the glasses on the table, considers for a moment, then pours another scotch for himself. Taking his seat at the head of a conference table in the center of the room, he leans back in his chair and takes a sip. There are seats for everyone at the table.

"Lets get down to business. Someone has stolen an object from the people that I represent. We would like for the object to be retrieved quickly, as we have reason to believe that the thief is trying to sell it. What you're looking for, if you take this job, is some music-related data that's important to my employer's business. I don't know who stole it - there was a break-in a couple of days ago, and the disk was taken along with some other items that are of little interest. Your best bet is probably to check in with any connections that you might have who would hear about the item. If the thief is trying to sell the item, word should get out about its availability.

The object storing the data is an old-style optical disk. We want both the disk and the data returned, in the eventuality that the one no longer resides on the other. Let me be clear: we do not want any of the disk's data getting into the hands of anyone but us, period. If the data gets out, we expect you to track down and eliminate any copies.

Once you have located the data, the second part of the job is to track down the person who is trying to sell it - probably not the same person who is offering the information, since the thief will likely work through intermediaries - and get the disk back. I don't care how you do it: if you can get the data back by making an offer to the thief, my employers are willing to cover the arrangement and take care of retrieving their money later. If you'd prefer to take...other measures, that is entirely up to you. Just do it quickly and make sure that the disk and the data are not harmed, and that no copies remain.

I am authorized to offer your team 10,000 nuyen for the job, with half up front and half upon return of the disk. Discuss among yourselves, and tell me of your decision before you leave this room."