[irisheathen]

Patches looked down into his drink swirling the ice in the glass. “See this just brings up a laundry list of questions for me.” He looked up at each of the other runners in turn trying to sense the mood of the room before locking eyes with the Johnson. “Before I can think about accepting your terms, and I'm not speaking for anyone else but, I’d like some basic information. For example what details about our employer, the data, and the thief are you at liberty to provide?”

[spoiler]
Let me know what I should roll for "mood sensing".
Intuition (4)+ Charisma (2)= 6
6d6.hits(5)=4
[/spoiler]

[obidancer]

So, McClane thought to himself, an optical disk containing Music-relaled data is stolen, within two days an intermediary of the thief would put the word on the streets that the data is available for sale. Find the source, find the thief, find the disk. He tried to summarize. He looked around and now the team made a bit more sense, more or less. The kid, what's his name -Hitch, Data expert, Hacker as they were known today. Himself and Maverick, investigators, right on the job. Not much Magic going around but it was usually for the best. The Orks, if investigation get nasty or " whatever mean necessary" actually becomes necessary... That leave Lynx and Patches... Extraction, get in get out... and well yes, Lynx had some undeniable charms. Yes he could see why Smiley had gathered such a Team. Maybe with chance he'd become a permanent  one, if they all get along and things went on smoothly.

10,000¥  was a good sum for this kind of Job, though divide it by 7 and there was not even enough for a month's rent. Still it wasn't too bad for what should be a few days of work. They had to prove themselves and hopefully, either through Smiley or that Johnson, get more work... build a reputation.

McClane started thinking of whom might have heard about the Data being sold. He thought of a few names but those people would probably rather be on a cruise to Hell before talking to him. That pretty much left him with either Papa Loubda, a crafty Talismonger in Auburn or Esteban, his 'downtime' goodies provider... read it drugs. Not much experts in the music industry...

He listen carefully to Patches question, knowing there was little chance of much more information. But a good investigation was all about the little details. He simply nodded to his new Teammates to indicate he was ok with taking on the job, and kept listening on the others questions and most importantly the possible answers.

[user-unknown]

Lynx put her glass down on the table and sat back in her chair to consider the troll's words.  She hadn't really known what to expect, having heard all sorts of tall stories from the various runners she'd sold to in the past, but this job sounded like it should be interesting.  In a way it would be similar to her previous work - just with much more of an active role in the acquistion of the item to be delivered.  "That's a lot less money than I was hoping for, but it sounds like the job should be over pretty quickly, one way or the other.  There may also be soom room for bargaining...", she thought, but she was distracted from further consideration of this idea by the question from the brown haired man sitting opposite.

The question was a good one and she found herself nodding in agreement.  The details provided weren't much to go on, and she had no idea where to start.  "No point haggling over the amount if we can't actually do the job", she thought to herself and turned to address Mr Johnson.  "I'm afraid I agree," she said, "I appreciate your client's need for discretion in this matter, but any additional information you are able to provide will assist us in retrieving your clients' property much more quickly and with a minimum of trouble.  We all want the same thing here after all." 

[spoiler]
Negotiation
Skill 4 + Cha 5 + Pheremones 3 + *(Lacks background knowledge of situation -2)
negotiation (10d6.hits(5)=3)

* seems appropriate considering the... well...lack of background knowledge!
[/spoiler]

[jonathanc]

irisheathen: You will want to roll Judge Intentions, which is Intuition + Charisma
Everyone: If you wish to negotiate for more money, elect one person to speak for you, and have that person roll Charisma + Negotiation. Also, anyone who has Knowledge skills relating to music or the music industry may make a knowledge test as well.



Johnson listens intently to Patches and Lynx, his mouth tightening almost imperceptibly.

"My employer is paying me to keep them anonymous, so I cannot help you there, and their need for privacy precludes any investigation of the scene of the crime. Even if they could be convinced, they have no additional information regarding the thief. As I said, you will need to put feelers out for someone who is trying to sell music-related data in a hurry.

I can tell you little more about the disk - I've been told that it is an old-style optical disk, no longer in use. I'm not sure of the format."

[DiscoDwarf]

The damp investigator listened quietly to everyone, taking mental notes of the job they were asked to do. Like his fellow Awakened McClaine, he could put the pieces together, but the team was too big. A simple investigation and retrieval should require a lot less than seven people, this was akin to hunting demon rats with a Panther assault cannon. Whatever was on that disk must have been novahot, and the owner wanted to make sure they kept the exclusivity.

During a lull after the Johnson's answer, Maverick adds his own question, a simple one: "Given that we'll have to make sure we have the right data, can we at least know who recorded that disk? If the thief is clever, he might be using red herrings."

[user-unknown]

"Hmm, this guy is serious about his privacy.  Not going to help him much when his precious data ends up all over the matrix because he didn't give us enough to find the thief." Lynx thought to herself, somewhat annoyed by the Johnson's answer even thought she knew it wasn't his fault.

"I am sorry, but that does present us with something of a problem.  Given the scarce information available, I don't see how any of us can commit to do such a job on the limited budget suggested.", she said looking around the room at the expressions of the other invitees to make sure they agreed.  "As has just been suggested, if this theft was a professional, targeted job - which sounds likely from the description you have provided and the sensitivity of the item stolen - he has likely invested significant resources in hiding himself and the data.  There are ways around such things, but that takes both time and money.  As a starting point for negotiation, I suggest 2000 per person plus expenses incurred?"

[spoiler]
Negotiation!

Skill 4+ Cha 5 + Pheremones 3
negotiation for more money (12d6.hits(5)=2)

D'oh.

Edited for spelling, and again for not being an idiot  

Actually, using edge to reroll failures. 
bad luck (1d6=2) = good.

10 failures rerolling (10d6.hits(5)=2)

I think that makes 4 hits total?
[/spoiler]

[Ethan]

Hitch leans back and maintains a smiling face as the others ask questions and negotiate. He adds, "You have to agree, Mr. Johnson, that this is a time-sensitive manner and our contacts are not sharing info out of the goodness of their hearts. If you can cover our expenses and our, well, bribes we'd be able to get this done even sooner."

[spoiler]
jonathanc would you mind rolling for me if it's possible? None of the rolling sites are working right for me. I'd like to do some teamwork negotiating, if applicable.
[/spoiler]

[obidancer]

McClane was already thinking about the possible course of action to find that disk. His Modo Operandi was to rely heavily on the services of elementals and watchers he could summon, but by being denied access to the place of the the crime, it limited his chance to find clues and track the thief. His and their; he was part of a team now.

They had indeed to take the investigation the other way around. Hit the street, find the potential buyers, then the seller, then the prize and back the the thief. He knew of a few people knowledgeable enough in the world of music, but they'd probably rather ride a dragon to hell and back before even considering talking to McClane. He had his way with people... not in the good way.
That was leaving him with very few possibility. Nowadays, the only two people brave enough to do business with McClane were Papa Loubda, a talismonger with a small shop in Auburn, or Esteban, his usual drug provider and other gang related info. If the two would be amateur of music - certainly different - he didn't know how much they would possibly know about the industry itself. It was worth a shot contacting them though.

He kept observing the Johnson and his other teammate, occasionally switching to Astral Perception for a better understanding of their emotions.

[jonathanc]

Mr. Johnson leaned back, shrugging his shoulders with practiced ease. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time. I understand your difficulties, but unfortunately my hands are tied here. Perhaps your team is a bit...overqualified for this job? Can you recommend a group of lesser professionals who might be more amenable to these terms?



Johnson has skill 5, charisma 4, pheremones 3

[irisheathen]

Patches leaned back enjoying the free drink as he watched the other runners trying to haggle more money out of the Johnson.Then it hit him and a smile slid across his face. He recognized who the Johnson was.
"Mr. St. George such an important troll as yourself, skilled in recognizing talent, can see we are just the team you need. It would be such a boon to work with a professional of your caliber."

[obidancer]

For a second McClane thought Patches had lost it, but quickly understood he somehow had recognized the Johnson or they knew each others from previous jobs.
And McClane just wanted to slap the man hard on the head. Never unveil a Johnson's identity in front of everyone. If he wanted his name secret that was for a reason. And McClane wasn't sure calling a Troll an 'Ork' was very flattering for Trolls.
He so hoped neither Lynx nor Patches would screw their chance to get the job, he was broke -or would be in a few days- and needed that money. Losing the job for wanting a few more Nuyens wasn't gonna go well in his book, and even less upsetting/insulting the Johnson.

Several thoughts went through his mind, one included using one of the Ork to slap Patches' head -he wasn't known as 'the Puppeteer' for no reason after all- but he decided not to intervene. They had to remain somehow professional. Hopefully that St. George man was more focus on Patches' last part of the sentence, agreeing to the Job. He held his breath and hoped for the best.

[jonathanc]

The troll's eyes shifted over to Patches slowly, studying him in silence for a few awkward moments. Then he smiled.

"You're quite well informed. I assume you are also discreet enough to forget that name once you've left this room. The job is your's if you want it, but I can't offer you any additional cash."

Darius St. George reached into his jacket pocket and removed a small, unmarked cylinder. A credstick. He laid it down on the table.

"This is half of your wages, paid up front. If you take this money and leave the room, I will continue our business here complete, and expect to hear news of your success in a few days."

[irisheathen]

 "I'm sorry sir I must have mistaken you for someone else. I'm horrible with names and faces."
Patches smiled and placed his hand over the credstick. He looked to each of the other runners for assent before picking up the credstick and nodding to St. George. Patches stood up holding the credstick out to Lynx to dissuade anyone from thinking that he wanted the responsibility of leadership. He was hoping none of the others would hold the faux pas against him, if they had even noticed it.

[Ethan]

"Thank you, Mr. Johnson." Hitches says politely. "How should we message you when the job's done?"

He sighs inwardly. That's what I get for letting someone else do the talking.

Hitch smiles. "Also, forgive me, it may be possible to resolve this non-violently. What's the upper limit in buying the thief off?"

[jonathanc]

Darius St. George smiled broadly and sent a commcode to Hitch's commlink. "I can be reached at this number. I'd rather not limit your bargaining room...give me a call with the number you've arrived at and I'll do my best to clear it with my employers. It's the least I can do."