The moment Ian is approached by the hostess he feels something in his gut that he doesn't like.
The fuck did she know who to look for? These fuckers got fuckin pictures of me!? He keeps his hands in his pockets, nervously fishing for the grenade that he'd decided not to bring as he follows her to the rear. By the time the two of them reach the Holiday room, he's been able to calm his nerves a bit.
So what if they got my picture? Aint like I got a SIN or nothin. He does his best not to stare when he and Ms Johnson meet once again, amazing looking woman though she is.
"Mr. Hopeless, so good to see you again. Glad you could make it,"
As the hastily put together human man crosses the room toward her, he takes his hat off, then while shaking her hand firmly, he nods and responds,
"Good to see you as well, Ms. Johnson." When she directs him to sit next to her, he happily obliges, but the feeling in his gut gets deeper.
Is this tease the prole, Part II? Or is she trying to keep me close enough for the tailored pheromones to work? You know Johnsons be gettin them shits, right? He remembers how his impetuous words had probably cost the team close to six grand through negotiations during the last meet, so he's decided that this time he's gonna keep his mouth shut until she and the other three women here had all said their peace. Even so, his mind flits around from topic to topic like a moth, surrounded by lights.
Why is she putting me on a team of all women, too? There's the cute rich brunette, the redhead synthleather gal, and the no nonsense ork in the baggy clothes. Is Dadlez trying to find out if I'm straight? PFFFFT! Like you'd ever have the balls to try and hook up with some hottie shadowrunner! You can't even ask the girl at the corner store on a date. He's able to focus a bit more once the Johnson starts her pitch.
"At my right here, we have Mr. Hopeless who will provide magical support."
Magical support?! She knows I'm just a summoner! Or does she? I guess I don't really advertise my abilities terribly well. I hope this woman doesn't think I can cast spells and shit. He keeps his trap shut though, hoping she isn't trying to mislead the other three for some reason.
Soon as the four of us are alone, I gotta let em know."To his right, we have Phoenix, who I understand is the potential muscle. Across from me, La Sombre is the second-story woman. And, Wraith, is it? Yes, Wraith will be joining us for matrix overwatch."
Ian looks to each woman as they're introduced and nods his head to each in turn.
Leathergirl is Phoenix and she's the muscle. Nod. Smile.
Baggy ork is La Sombre and she's the inside man. Heh, "man". Crazy how gender biased our language is. Nod. Smile.
Rich girl, Wraith, Decker. Nod. Smile. He notes there's no spellcaster counted among them, a fact that worries him a bit. He's not sure how comfortable he is being the team's only "mage" as it were.
"I will be up front with you all. This is not tasteful work. There are four specific Yakuza wakagashira and kyodai whom my employers and I would like to see eliminated. If possible, we would like at least one of the deaths to appear to come from the Feathered. It is also imperative that these four individuals are 'geeked,' to put it in laymen's terms, within hour of one another, so that they will not have the opportunity to go underground. We are prepared to offer 36,000¥ for the successful completion of the run, plus a bonus of 7,000¥ should the necessary people believe that the hits were carried out by the Feathered. "Before I am able to go into any more detail, I need to know if I am in the presence of interested parties."
The skinny human man has been leaning back against the chair with his elbows on the armrests, listening and watching, trying his damndest not to react or give himself away. But his body language betrays him finally.
Wetwork. Slumping his shoulders forward unconsciously, he glances down at the table for just a moment and sighs a little bit. He inhales and almost speaks, but instead sticks to the plan, waiting to see what might be added to the conversation by tongues more skilled than his. A moment later, a message pops up in the top right corner of his vision.
<<@Hopeless [Dadlez] Should this affect your decision, we believe these individuals are directly responsible for the leaks in your party during the last run. I am also in the possession of information relating to a certain Niles Gray's whereabouts that I will happily pass along to you should you accept the job.>>
He really tries his hardest to keep his face neutral, but the feeling in his gut just went full out nuclear.
This is a fucking set up. Why else would she be trying to manipulate me this hard? She must think Breeze and I really fuckin hit it off. Stay cool, dude. You don't know what she's got going on. Woman like that operate on a higher level than dudes like you. She got schemes within schemes. Don't think cause you caught wind of some schemin, that means you're the target. You're a cog in a machine, dude. A machine that kills people sometimes, so get the fuck over that "wetwork" bullshit, too! He doesn't respond to the message, instead waiting to hear what Wraith, La Sombre, and Phoenix think about being paid assassins.
The ork, La Sombre is the first to speak up.
"Sometimes, rabid dogs must be put down."
He raises an eyebrow.
Rabid dogs. Damn. We don't even know these guys. These GUYS?! They're fuckin hardcore Yak murderers, each responsible for more deaths than you'll ever be if you start workin real hard at it. Fuck those fuckin fuckers, right?!Wraith, the decker keeps it straight business.
"So, we need to eliminate four yaks in the course of an hour and make it look like the Azzies did it? What's our timeline? Knocking off four targets isn't too tough. Making it look like someone else was responsible also isn't impossible. But timing it so it all happens within an hour? That could be difficult... and expensive."
Good points, all. And you see how cool she is? She's already been told aint gonna be no more info till we say if we're in, yet here she is demanding more info without giving away a damn thing? This chick is on POINT.Phoenix goes all out for style points.
"Sounds like I rolled into at the right time. Last I checked, yaks bleed like the rest of us. And if it bleeds..." She paused dramatically, tilting her head forward to expose her hazel eyes glancing at each of them briefly in turn. "...I can kill it. But the Wraith is right. It ain't no milk run. Reckon it would take all of us committed. Ain't no time for a half-cocked rifle in the mix, if you catch my drift?" She winked, returning to her relaxed stance whilst grabbing one of the water glasses, drinking it coolly.
Ian had forgotten both how thirsty he was as well as the fact that there are water bottles here until she took a sip from hers.
That line is from a movie or something, I think. he thinks as he unscrews one of the bottles and takes a long swig as well.
And what's with the winking? As he's drinking, the Johnson makes conversation with Phoenix, turning on her manufactured charm the way she does.
"Ahh, an interest in the classics, I see. I personally find the flatvids of the late 20th century to be most interesting. There's much that the modern tridflick directors have outright stolen, often to good effect, sometimes for ill. But Jiminez," she says referencing an early 2040s director, "would not be Jiminez if not for the work of McTiernan. Of course The Hunt for Red October seems a bit controversial to our modern sensibilities, but I think it's a wonderful piece of filmography, for its time of course."
Sean Connery was in that movie. Asshole woman beater.The waitress arrives with a plate of the best food Ian has seen in months, if not years and he feels a sense of near disgust when he realizes that these "calf fries" are the appetizer. He doesn't even realize it until Dadlez turns to the waitress and says,
"I'll have the Wagyu sirloin, bloody as you can legally serve it, and perhaps we'd like a couple pitchers of beer. The real stuff, please. It is the 5th, after all."
Deciding that it's ok to speak now, he finally pipes up. With a poilte smile and no discernable accent, he says,
"I'll have the same, but medium rare, thanks. Oh, and can I also rock the blue cheese pecan chopped salad, please?" He closes the online menu he'd been perusing in the background since he got into the cab to come here.
God damn right I'm bout to eat some hardcore food on this woman's dime! This shit probably costs a third what I'm getting paid for the job! Shit, NOT ordering some bad-ass food would be like volunteering for a 25% paycut, right?! Once everyone has finished ordering, and the five of them are alone again, Johnson gets right back down to business.
"The job will indeed prove difficult. Hopefully, you may find ways to get two, or even three of the targets together, which would make your work much easier. But I agree, this is no 'milk run.' That's precisely why we are willing to pay so much, with a hefty bonus should all aspects of the job be completed in a satisfactory manner. We are also willing to provide an advance, as I'm sure there are palms that will need greasing, and equipment that will need purchasing to help advance our mutual cause.
"It seems to me that there may be some hesitancy from the group, as I'm sure all of you are thinking that this will only be possible if all parties are firmly on board. Mr. Hopeless, we have not heard from you yet. It appears as though you may be the deciding factor. What are your thoughts?"
She called me out, directly, huh? Well... Ok!"I don't- " He stops, clears his throat and begins again.
"I don't like wetwork." He considers not continuing and just leaving it at that, but he knows he's already in too deep for anyone to let it drop now, so he goes on.
"It's messy, it's tricky, it's unpredictable, and it doesn't even look great on a resume." He pops another fry in his mouth, but doesn't chew it yet.
"Unless it's an assassin's resume." He gives the scrumptious little morsel one or two chews before swallowing quickly and adding,
"Now, considering I'm not trying to build one of those, I'm gonna need more of a financial motivation for it to work out, wiz?" Ian is simply amazed at how cool he's staying under the circumstances. It's cause he hasn't been near the train in a while. He's been staying inside.
I can't wait till I'm a real decker! This is more how he'd hoped he'd be during the first meet. Feeling like he's on a roll, Hopeless just keeps on with it.
"I'm thinking closer to fourty-five, fifteen up front." He nods his head toward the short brunette called Wraith, glancing at her as he speaks this last bit;
"The lady has a point. Gonna need a lot of coordination to pull off."I can handle this. We're cool. We're cool.