[HydroRaven]

"I better not ask him about that again or else his glasses budget will go through the roof" thinks Clementine. She didn't have anything against Johnny but decided not to pursue this and end the conversation.

[Thvor]

The response you get back from her is confusing, but suddenly gives you hope:

"Hey Sam!  Thought you were gonna get back to me after, that was a strange scene wouldn't you say?"

You don't remember any thing strange about the last time you saw Sarah, which was over a week before your 'blackout', and you made no plans to call her then.

For the first time he could remember, Sam was nearly speechless. Well, this is unexpected.

Recovering quickly, he adopted a slightly apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I really am. You're right, I was going to get back to you--things just got a little...complicated." Yeah, like I lost a couple days of my life complicated, he thought to himself. "You doing ok? What did you think about it?"

[Crossbow]

"Well I figured that, if you got the job .  Nothing that unusual wouldn't end up being complicated, but I didn't figure you would forget me entirely.  I just thought it was weird, getting individually interviewed like that, not that I have a lot of experience in general in the 'professional' shadows, but it felt a legit job interview, or maybe speed dating."

[Thvor]

Sam grinned wryly. "Speed dating...well, I guess that's close. Not quite the right verb, though, unfortunately...turns out my 'date' had other intentions and tried to...take unfair advantage of me, to extend the metaphor." He sighed. "The short version of it is that I woke up two days ago in a field, naked as the day I was born, with a hole in my memory that I could've driven a Roadmaster through. Pretty professional wipe-and-dump, and I'm still trying to get my shit back together."

[Crossbow]

"Well I think I definitely got the better end of the deal then. Got a G for my time along with the other rejects and made it to the burger shack before the dinner rush."

[Thvor]

"Yeah, I'd say you're right, though the burger shack...eh, once I get back into town, I'll take you somewhere better, ok?" He smiled. "By the way, what was your interview like? What sorts of questions did they ask you? And what did you think of the tests?" If someone's paying a grand to failed "applicants", there'd have to be some sort of rigorous testing going on, wouldn't there? And if there wasn't...well, I can pass that off easily as a second-round thing, I guess, he mused.

[Crossbow]

"It was really basic stuff, what I knew, shadow experience, background.  I got the impression I wasn't what they were looking for, like they had specific things they needed done.  I also don't think that they were interested in Amerinds, there was a Sioux fresh of the train, a washout from the Wildcats that didn't make the cut."  Sarah looked thoughtful, "You don't remember any of this?  It was a pretty wild scene."

[Thvor]

"Guess this is one more time you're lucky to be red, then." He smiled at her face in the 'link's screen, knowing that she'd had to face a fair amount of animosity because of her heritage. "The thing that keeps bothering me, though--other than having someone rip my brains apart, of course--is how quickly it happened. I mean, I only lost a day, maybe two; that's hardly enough time for a team to get together, form a plan, and frag everything up, even for a bunch of rookies, right?" Sam paused, then continued, speculatively, "Hrm, maybe that's it...maybe we didn't frag up. What if this is part of the interview 'process', to see how well we can handle things when they go south?"

[farothel]

Sammy kept looking outside for anything that might be a treath, including in the astral.  She was quite sure the pilot wouldn't be able to see in the astral, not with the amount of cyber in his body.  After a scan of the environment, she turned back to Fionn.
"It's been some time now," she said, "and at least I managed to get her out of the Twins.  But what do you mean with coincidence?"

[RHat]

"Well it's just...  Believe it or not, my own reasons for coming to Seattle aren't so different.  Pretty much the same, actually - my sister'd been running in Seattle for a few years, but she disappeared a while back.  Figured two people with the same sort of reason for being in Seattle winding up on the same team...  Well, it seemed like there might be something there."

[Crossbow]

For the first time since you all met, when you woke up in a mountain pasture, you are finally getting back to something like normal.  The hypnotic thrumming of the Ghost's engines is actually relaxing in a really strange way, and in spite of the odd strapping holding you in place you actually think you might doze off if you let yourself.  The sight of your pilot completely catatonic in his seat is strangely both an aide and a hindrance to this thought.

All too soon you hear Jesus giving you instructions in your headsets.  "We are 15 from the border, we will be on signal blackout in 10, skids down in 20, and parting company in 21.  If you magery types wanna put some sneaking spirit hoodoo on us do it now."

In Sammy's headset alone the following message also, "Hey chica, I will see you at the Needle, Friday at 2000, wear something sexy, I collect my kiss then.  Adios."

[Thvor]

Hearing Jesus's announcement, Sam turns back to his conversation. "Hey, listen, Sarah--I've got to go now; I'll call you back as soon as I can. And I meant what I said about taking you somewhere better than that burger joint." Smiling suddenly, he added, "How about the top of the Needle? Great view from up there. I'll get us reservations, ok?" And if I'm lucky, we'll get to watch Sammy's date unfold, he added to himself. "Oh, and anything you know that'll help me fill in the gaps in my head...mind sending them along? It'd mean a lot to me."

[Mirikon]

Heron had been quiet most of the time, but now he was glad to be finally getting back to Seattle. Time to get back to Tarislar, and have a good long drink while he sorted things out.

[RHat]

Turning away from his conversation with Sammy, Fionn has a quick question for Jesus.  "Hey, where is it we're gonna be landing?  Need a location to arrange for local transport and overwatch."

[farothel]

In Sammy's headset alone the following message also, "Hey chica, I will see you at the Needle, Friday at 2000, wear something sexy, I collect my kiss then.  Adios."

"Sure, if we have cleaned up this mess by Friday," Sammy said into the microphone, "and you manage to get a reservation on such short notice.  And you also wear something suitable.  Now, I'm going to conceal us with a spirit."

It was the first time she summened a spirit while in a helicopter, but not the first time she had done so while moving.  But this time it didn't seem to be working.  For some reason there was no spirit forthcoming.  Well, best try again.  The second time she did get a response, but she felt she wouldn't be able to ask much from the spirit.
"use your improved invisibility spell to conceal this craft and all it's occupants until I ask you to stop," she said to it on the astral plain where it had appeared.

"We should be invisible now," she said to the rest of the group and the pilot when she shifted her attention back to the real world.

[spoiler]
summoning force 5 spirit of man with optional power: innate spell (improved invisibility):
magic 5 + summoning 3 =8 (8d6.hits(5)=2)
spirit resistance
spirit resistance 5 (5d6.hits(5)=3)
nothing, drain 3
willpower 4 + logic 4 =8 (8d6.hits(5)=4)

Same again:
magic 5 + summoning 3 =8 (8d6.hits(5)=2)
spirit resistance 5 (5d6.hits(5)=1)
At least one service, drain 1
willpower 4 + logic 4 (8d6.hits(5)=2)
and no drain
[/spoiler]