[HydroRaven]

After a small detour to his place to get his equipment and weapons, Weber went to Max's place. Surprised at the layout, the rookie detective let out a whistle and said "Wow, wiz place you got. Now I understand why you wanted to make this the base of operations. I feel like we should call this the batcave or something."

Twitch then updated Max on what the lieutenant had told him. "I sent my request to Murphy but she said it would take a day to get everything together and send it to us." Turning to Abran, he asked "Got anything on your end?"

[rednblack]

"Wow, wiz place you got. Now I understand why you wanted to make this the base of operations. I feel like we should call this the batcave or something."

"The what cave?" Abran asks, no less impressed but confused about the reference.

"I don't have anything solid or workable.  Not even a trid still at this point.  One of my contacts is well aware of who he is, though, and is pretty loathe to get involved.  If we can throw some cred her way, I bet we might be able to get a ping out of her is she sees him.  Just getting in the bar, or whatever as him, could go a long way for intelligence gathering.  Whaddya think, Max?"

He drops his bag in the common area and looks around with a low whistle.  "Nice digs.  I had no idea the department would spring for something so big."

When Max corrects him that their intrepid leader had secured the place himself, Abran gave a knowing nod.  That settles it.  This guy's Firewatch for sure.  You're bound to have suction to get a place like this when you're coming from out of town.

[Jack_Spade]

Max shook his head: "As I said, this used to be the hideout of a Mafia Don. It worked well until he decided he needed female companionship more than a secure door between him and the outside. It wasn't exactly on the market afterwards as he and his trusted lieutenants were all carved up by stripper ninja assassins. One of my contacts told me about this place as he was the one who installed the doors. Only Murphy know's about the place. Most of the upkeep goes into hiding the fact that this place exists while also keeping the lights on.
If we want to keep this place we'll have to earn a real shadow wage before to long, or it's back to a coffin motel.

I've taken the master bedroom and set up my meditation circle, other than that you are free to take whichever room you want.

As for your idea: Yeah, hanging out at Halloweener hotspots is not something to be done lightly, but probably a good way to find someone who knows how to find Alverez. Where is this bar you are talking about?"

[rednblack]

"No known hoop holes, just a contact that knows what he looks like. I say we wait to see what the department can get us, but if we don't even have a pic we can maybe tap her to let us know when he's making the rounds. Then. We go and put glasses on the fragger"

[Jack_Spade]

"Alright. In that case I'd say we take a few hours of R&R to give our contacts time to get back to us, maybe search the matrix a bit and then if it doesn't bring any results go out this evening to visit some watering holes to get the info the hard way.

I'll be in my room if you need anything."

Back in his circle, Max released the hold on his mental construct but not the spell he had woven on his senses. What he needed now was technological competence. So he concentrated and created a skill construct.

[spoiler]
Releasing Spirit of Men (and consequently the two spells it has cast on me)

Summoning and channeling an R5 Task spirit (comes as an R6) spirit

Summoning F5(6) Taskspirit: 12d6t5 2 [12d6t5=1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 5, 4, 3, 2, 5, 4]
F5(6) Taskspirit Resist: 6d6t5 3
No Net success: Resist 6 Drain
Drain Resist: 15d6t5 7
No Drain

Try again:
Summoning F5(6) Taskspirit: 12d6t5 4
F5(6) Taskspirit Resist: 6d6t5 1
Nice, 3 Services, 2 Drain
Drain resist: 15d6t5 7
No Drain

Spirit gets Computer skill (6) for Max to use
 
Matrix Search for Alverez (Ork, Halloweener)
INT 10+Skill 6 - Spell upkeep 1
Apply Penalties as appropriate
Matrix Search: 15d6t5 7 [15d6t5=4, 6, 2, 1, 5, 6, 3, 1, 3, 5, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3]

Seems like the dice roller is stuck on seven for 15 dice

[/spoiler]

It took a moment longer than usual until he had created the right mental image, but then he suddenly had all the necessary knowledge to competently use his commlink. Laying on his bed, he dived into the Matrix.

[HydroRaven]

With a bag over his shoulder and his axe in his left hand, Twitch acknowledged what Max had said and went in search of a room for himself. He settled for the bedroom closest to the living room, arranging his equipment around and generally making this space his own. Wanting to know more about the neighbourhood, he went on the Matrix to look for a map of the surrounding area. *The closest place for food is a standing noodle bar. I wonder if Max has had a chance to try it out yet.*

Looking a bit more, he noticed there was a Stuffer Shack not far from the noodle bar, which both pleased and at the same time annoyed him. All those late night patrols when he was further down the promotion ladder came rushing back to him, Stuffer Shack being the only thing open at those hours. The taste of krill "ham" and soy "cheese" sandwiches making an appearance on his taste buds, Weber decided to get out of his room and stretch his legs on the couch, watching the first interesting thing on the Trid he could find.

[HydroRaven]

The whole team gets an unexpected message from Lt. Murphy. <Detective Weber is to report to the precinct for formal questioning regarding case #638044. Please be advised he will be on formal administrative leave effective immediately and further involvement in ongoing cases will be suspended pending said investigation.>

A second message is sent moments later, this one less formal in tone. <Andrew, just come over quietly so we can get this resolved and you'll be back on the force in the blink of an eye.>

The rookie detective got off of his seat and went to the room to gather his things, quiet as a mouse. The message seemed to take all the winds out of his sails.

[Jack_Spade]

Max received the message during his searches and sent back a short: <<Acknowledged. Thanks for your help detective. Try to resolve the issue and come back here if you can. We aren't exactly overstaffed and you are a valuable team member.

Lt. Murphy, I have a plan how to fill this vacancy. We'll soldier on regardless, but I would appreciate an additional body in the breach.>>

[HydroRaven]

A few minutes later, Max received a reply from Lt. Murphy. <I'll try to find another poor soul interested in undercover work, but it might take some time to vet potential candidates. Meanwhile, prove me right in choosing you and get us closer to that doomsday plot.>

[HydroRaven]

@Max

After a few hours of searching the Matrix, your spirit comes back with something that can be contained in a single page. The list reads like a typical ganger summary, with some vague mentions in local news and various court appearances scattered throughout the years for minor offences such as possession, battery and such, but for some reason there is no mention of Alverez in the last 8 months.

The spirit, without saying a word, lets you know it is waiting for your second command.

[rednblack]

Abran has spent the better part of the day moving into the new digs, and getting a feel for the lay of the land in the surrounding area.  It's dangerous, no doubt, but the expansive base of operations is secure, and he thinks that it will do nicely.  When Max lets Abran know that they're running as a duo, at least for the short term, and that the pressure is still on them to produce, to say nothing about how Skids and his crew would react to radio silence and nothing done on their part, Abran wracks his brain for some avenue of building the case, but when all of Undercover Operations are handled in one three-credit course at the uni, he's unsure where else to turn in the short term.

He sets down a box of noodles in front of his superior officer, and begins slurping away at his own in the common room.  "Well, sir, I mean, I mean Max, without a bone coming in from headquarters, I'm not sure what else we can do besides go and put eyes on some Halloweener joints and see what comes of it.  We could also see about getting a jacket or two for some still-living lieutenants, and maybe have a chat with one of them?  You're a mojo slinger, right?  You have any of that, make-a-fragger-look-different wizzers?  I mean, I bet we could press pretty hard to get the answers we're looking for, but it could make the rest of the job harder to pull off, scan?"

[Jack_Spade]

[spoiler]
Just to clear up a slight misconception:

Max is a Psionic - he doesn't actually talk to his spirits nor do they talk to him since for him they are only mental constructs and talking to them is like talking to himself. Also he uses Channeling so he can get direct access to the skills for himself (it's like remembering a skill you once possessed)

[/spoiler]

Max just looked at Abran for a second with his piercing eyes before he answered: "Surveillance is the most safe option but probably also the most time consuming one and success is far from assured. Since we still don't know when and where the fireworks are planed I fear we aren't in a position to rely on the safe option.
I can't disguise us, but I can render us invisible.
So if you are up for it, we can do a little breaking and entering at a local Helloweener Chapter and see if we can't catch anything interesting. If that doesn't work, we can always just snatch a lieutenant and bring him somewhere secluded for a little chat."

[rednblack]

"Works, for me," Abran says, wiping his chin with a napkin.  "If we're going to try breaking into a chapter house, we should probably wait until either really early, say 5 or 6 in the morning, or mid-day, unless we can put eyes on them going out for a raid.

"Drek, it may even be good to go after one of the downtown branches.  Stay as far away from Alverez as possible right now, and, uh, they tend to be pretty active in their pursuits.  Can you get on the horn with the LT and see about getting us some nuyen to throw around?  I could use a Suppressor my SMG, an Ares model Sigma 3 if we're going to run around acting like real-life shadowrunners."

he pauses for a moment, doing his best to enjoy the noodles while his superior officer responds, and then snaps his fingers.

"Wait a sec.  We know Alverez is shaking things up.  Lieutenants are coming up dead or missing.  I bet one or two have bugged out, rather than wait around, especially if they backed the wrong horse.  We get a hold of one of those guys and we're both working toward similar aims, wiz?

"Imma tap my bartender friend, see if any lost souls been coming around.  If I was a ganger trying to stay outta Redmond and Downtown, Renton might be just the place."

<<@Ed [Abran] Any new guys been coming round the last few weeks?  Have the look of ganger to 'em, but sure as drek aren't flying their colors?  That fit the description of anyone you've seen?>>

[Jack_Spade]

Max slowly shook his head: "No advances, I'm afraid. Secure operation can't have a pay trail leading to us. I have some reserves, but all in all we have to content with what we got until our first payday."

He thought a second about the proposal: "Hm, can't hurt to ask for them. But if they can be found that easily we sure have to hurry to speak to them, because a guy like Alverez doesn't seem to be the kind to leave any loose ends. So go for it, but after that we need to hurry."

[HydroRaven]

@Abran

A few minutes pass by before receiving an answer to your message. <Funny you should mention it, I been seeing this new customer 'round, but don't look like no gangbanger to me. Keeps to 'erself and always orders the same brew, 'round the same time every Thursday too.>