[Ympulse]

You look up at the clear blue sky, grateful that the forecasts for acid rain from the north were wrong. The LA sprawl was notorious for the acid rains in the fall, but things look to be looking up today.

You are broken from your reverie by a news broadcast that seems to have gotten through your normally tight spam filters. An AR enhanced female news anchor is sitting behind a brushed stainless steel desk, rambling off the 'clean' details of an apparent terrorist act on one of Horizon's Trid recording studios. The attack has all the hallmarks of a well done 'run, surgically precise explosion that only knocked out the vital equipment, the surveillance was hacked to show nothing, and the security personnel have no recollection of that night, thanks to Laes-treated slap patches. Of course there were suspects, but none of them were likely to be the actual 'runners. Corporate whitewash at it's most obvious. Nothing remarkable, to be sure, but it is interesting enough to watch the whole way though, if only to admire a professional's work.

At the end of the broadcast there is an anonymous hotline, but instead of the usual 10-digit anonymous number, you see an international 14-digit number superimposed over it, the number looks to be GPS coordinates, as referencing the directory shows the number belonging to a wageslave in Italy. The coordinates, though, show a public park bench in front of a water fountain.

The park is relatively busy, and would take maybe an hour to get to, if you took your time.

[spoiler]
I'll leave it to you to narrate your introductions and reactions, then we'll get things kicked off proper
[/spoiler]

[Jian]

Watcher's black brows knotted as the dwarf found himself shown the AR newscast, and then the coordinates. Apparently, once he ran through the cross-referencing to reach that conclusion, someone wanted to meet. A job offer, or something less benign towards him?

He had time to find out. Rather than take his time, he walked his way down to the park as briskly as a dwarf could, but pausing as he reached the area of the park to stop by a street vendor and get a warm processed krill-burger. That way, he could appear a sprawl denizen grabbing a bite, and also gave him time to scope the scene out before making an approach.

He made sure to switch to the astral plane as part of his scouting... couldn't be too careful.

[spoiler]OOC:
Perception parts:
Visual - Intuition 6 + Perception 6 + Enhanced Perception 6 + Visual Specialization 2 + Perceptive 2 + Actively Searching 3 = 25 dice
25d6.hits(5)=9

Auditory - Intuition 6 + Perception 6 + Enhanced Perception 6 + Audio Enhancement 3 + Perceptive 2 + Actively Searching 3 = 26 dice
26d6.hits(5)=6

Olfactory - Intuition 6 + Perception 6 + Enhanced Perception 6 + Perceptive 2 + Actively Searching 3 = 23 dice
23d6.hits(5)=10

Assensing: Intuition 6 + Assensing 5 + Enhanced Perception 6 + Perceptive 2 = 19 dice
19d6.hits(5)=8[/spoiler]

[Triggvi]

Mr. Fox looks like an average wage slave in an inexpensive suit and one of the few coats that will hold up under this damned acid rain (Mortimer’s of London Greatcoat).  Mr. Fox stands 5’11” 175lbs with brown eyes and black hair.  He has one of those California tans even though he has not seen the sun in months. After taking a peep at the weather report he steps off the curb. He doesn’t really look around he just seems to know where he is going.

Fascinating that someone would play AR tricks. Note to self:  Recheck my spam filters and plug the hole. It seems that someone went to a lot of trouble to feed that story to me and give me a location.  Perhaps I should show up and see what they want. For someone to go to this much trouble, I would say the stakes have to be high.

Mr. Fox walks to the park allowing his micro fly drones to fly around and scout out camera positions, helping him casually avoid cameras with timing and positioning and occasional minor hacking job (cleaning up his tracks of course). When he gets close he will have the bug drones fly out and scout the area before he gets there.

 Taking time to have the micro flies take facial pics, voice samples,  pics of cars and  gait video of people. Mr. Fox is curious who belongs here and who doesn't.. (running voice and facial recognition software, gait software, vehicle identity software)

You are only paranoid, if they aren't out to get you

[spoiler] Base rolls for software

11d6.hits(5) → [6,2,4,2,3,2,1,2,4,5,1] = (2)
11d6.hits(5) → [3,5,5,4,5,1,6,5,1,1,3] = (5)
11d6.hits(5) → [4,5,5,1,4,2,4,4,5,3,3] = (3)
11d6.hits(5) → [4,1,6,6,4,6,3,1,3,4,6] = (4)

rerolled. I put 4 or better for hits instead of 5.
1. Facial Recog 2. Voice Recog 3. Gait Analysis 4. Vehicle ID

General Visual Perception


19d6.hits(5) → [6,3,5,6,2,5,5,4,6,3,1,6,6,4,5,3,1,1,2] = (9)

rerolled. I put 4 or better for hits instead of 5. Perception 3+ int 4 +synch 1+ Attention co+2+ limbic +3 +3 vis Enhancement Glasses+ 3 active search
Inflitration roll

9d6.hits(5) → [4,6,3,5,5,3,5,1,2] = (4)

General infiltration roll R2+agility 7
[/spoiler]

[HydroRaven]

Mel was just finishing her tiramisu at Antipasti, her favourite Italian restaurant, when the broadcast appeared in AR. "How did that get through?" she thinks to herself. After the whole newscast has played, she pauses for a moment. Once she matches the coordinates with the park bench, she stays silent, sipping her tea. Pondering whether she should have a look at the obvious invitation for a possible job, the waitress brings Mel the check. Real food was expensive, and more so for real, good food. The check was the clincher, reminding her that she was low on funds. "It's worth a look" she thinks, as she leaves a generous tip and leaves casually.

Getting on the monorail, she heads for the park, thankful the weather forecast was wrong today. Sitting gracefully next to an ork, she rides silently, being mindful of her surroundings.

Once at the park, she instantly recognizes Mr. Fox. They had done a few runs together in the past, nothing major though. Compatibility in the shadows was worth it's weight in gold, and Mel knew a little about how Mr. Fox operated. Somehow, his ways worked with how Mel ran.

Mel calmly walked up to Mr. Fox as to not attract any unwanted attention. "Seen anything interesting on the Trid recently?" she asks him, with the smile people give when seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar situation. She knew his presence here was no coincidence.

[Triggvi]

Mel was just finishing her tiramisu at Antipasti, her favourite Italian restaurant, when the broadcast appeared in AR. "How did that get through?" she thinks to herself. After the whole newscast has played, she pauses for a moment. Once she matches the coordinates with the park bench, she stays silent, sipping her tea. Pondering whether she should have a look at the obvious invitation for a possible job, the waitress brings Mel the check. Real food was expensive, and more so for real, good food. The check was the clincher, reminding her that she was low on funds. "It's worth a look" she thinks, as she leaves a generous tip and leaves casually.

Getting on the monorail, she heads for the park, thankful the weather forecast was wrong today. Sitting gracefully next to an ork, she rides silently, being mindful of her surroundings.

Once at the park, she instantly recognizes Mr. Fox. They had done a few runs together in the past, nothing major though. Compatibility in the shadows was worth it's weight in gold, and Mel knew a little about how Mr. Fox operated. Somehow, his ways worked with how Mel ran.

Mel calmly walked up to Mr. Fox as to not attract any unwanted attention. "Seen anything interesting on the Trid recently?" she asks him, with the smile people give when seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar situation. She knew his presence here was no coincidence.

"Nothing to write home about,but someone sent me U-Matrix video of a whitewashed news report and funky Phone Number.  I wonder how many people called the number to ask for more info? " Mr Fox smiles at Mel looking across the park at the bench next to the fountain.

[Pwnagemachine]

Saul gives a seductive smile which was greeted by a slap to the face from a gorgeous brunette he had met a few days earlier and a few moments later a door slam almost causing a headache from the sheer sound his audio enhancements picked up. Che... like forgetting someone's name has never happened before. Saul said scratching his hair which was unkempt. Saul reaches for his night stand and grabs his last cigarette from the pack and tossing the empty pack towards the trash can. Work has been slow lately for Saul so in order to keep busy he continued another pass time of his -- women. Unfortunately for him he got a bit over zealous and began forgetting the women he has been involved with.  She'll get over it. Saul thought to himself he'll call her within a few days after she's cooled down and he will no longer be smoking alone in bed.

Saul checked the AR catching the broadcast. Then laughing at the hotline as if anyone was actually going to call then he noticed the phone number and realized that this wasn't a normal broadcast. After tracing the coordinates to the park near his flats he decided to give it a look. He grabbed his things placing his firearm in its concealment holster strapped to his side. He can never be too careful, a lot of people have it out for him, which now includes a pissed off "lady friend".  He grabs his helmet and sits on his bike, before sliding his helmet on he had mental surge. JAN! That's her name! he threw out his cigarette and slid his helmet on and rode out to the park.

Saul rides to the coordinates parks his bike and strolls towards the park always keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. He notices the two by the park bench but keeps a low profile as he slowly walks by the couple.

[spoiler]
Visual
[Precption 3 + vis enchancement + 3 Actively searching + 3 (6d9.hits(5)=3)

Audio
Perception 3 + Audio enchancement + 3 Actively searching + 3 (6d9.hits(5)=2)[/spoiler]

[Xzylvador]

Well, that's new, Matryoshka thought after watching the message. What's wrong with a simple "Hey, looking for work? Go to this place.", how much more paranoid can these Johnsons get?
He opened his chopsticks to drop the maki roll into a bowl of soy sauce and slowly reached for a thin slice of ginger, giving the rolls rice enough time to absorb as much of the salty soy sauce it could. Matryoshka hated the boring taste of rice and test tube tuna but since he'd decided to be Dai Takahashi today, eating traditional Japanese dishes was part of his schedule. Soaking the bland pieces of food in as much of the salty sauce as possible at least gave it some taste. Finishing the meal a little quicker than usual, he signaled his car to come pick him up and drop him off at the park.

Matryoshka switched to the backseat of his car while the autopilot managed the cities heavy traffic. He opened an AR screen with a projection of his own image, grabbed the a suitcase at his feet and started working on his appearance.

At the park he casually walked towards the park bench near the fountain, an average sized but sharp featured handsome looking Japanese man of middle age in a (projected) business suit. He politely smiled and nodded towards the people nearby and sat down on the bench, lighting a cigarette.
"Do you mind if I sit here? I'm supposed to be meeting someone.", he asked in perfectly articulated English, as taught in the Japanese business schools, with a small trace of a Japanese accent.

[HydroRaven]

"Nothing to write home about,but someone sent me U-Matrix video of a whitewashed news report and funky Phone Number.  I wonder how many people called the number to ask for more info? " Mr Fox smiles at Mel looking across the park at the bench next to the fountain.

"Do you reckon this is the person we're looking for?" says Mel, looking at the Japanese man sitting on the bench. "How about I go make contact with him and you listen in on our conversation from a distance? You still have my commcode, right?"

Mel then casually made her way to the park bench. She sat down next to the Japanese sarariman, crossing her legs and looking away at the horizon. With a sweet, enticing voice, she says, "雨が降らなくて、よかったね！！" in Japanese.

She then turns over and looks at him. "You look different than on the newscast. Am I to presume you are not the Johnson?"

[spoiler]The Japanese roughly translates to "Thank god it didn't rain today"[/spoiler]

[Xzylvador]

The Japanese man looked flustered by the woman's forwardness and seemed to think for a moment on what to answer.
"Johnson? No. I'm not Johnson. I recieved the most curious invitation and thought I would see what it was all about. It would seem that is something we have in common. Your Japanese is very good, miss....?"

[HydroRaven]

Mel politely smiles and gives out her hand, saying "People I work with call me Mel, nice to meet you, Mr...?

She then continues. "Do you have any idea how many other got contacted?"

[Xzylvador]

Matryoshka accepted the handshake. "A pleasure meeting you, Mel. My handle is Matryoshka, perhaps you've heard it before? But please, call me Matt. I'm afraid to admit I know as little as you do about this meeting."

[spoiler]Anyone with knowledge of Art or History (museums) or maybe shadowrunners or so might have heard about art robbery(ies) where a matryshoka doll was left in place of a stolen item.[/spoiler]

[HydroRaven]

"I'm afraid not, Matt, but don't take it personally, I hardly keep up with who does what. I'm mostly interested in who knows what" replies Mel with a wink and a sly smile.

[Jian]

Watcher could easily pick up the some of the notable people around the scene, the Japanese sarariman who first arrived at the bench, the woman who now joined him, and apparently, both were invitees like himself, awaiting the Johnson apparently...

The buzz of drones too occurred to him, and he picked up their minute forms circulating around the site. Alerted to the probability of being watcher, he followed their path - heh, Mr. Fox was around too, was he? The hacker-slash-rigger, was he another team omae, or someone to keep an eye on them?

Still stuffing his face with the burger and wiping it with a napkin, Watcher casually walked to just behind Mr. Fox. "Still obsessed with your toys, are you?" He grinned with the gibe.

[Triggvi]

Watcher could easily pick up the some of the notable people around the scene, the Japanese sarariman who first arrived at the bench, the woman who now joined him, and apparently, both were invitees like himself, awaiting the Johnson apparently...

The buzz of drones too occurred to him, and he picked up their minute forms circulating around the site. Alerted to the probability of being watcher, he followed their path - heh, Mr. Fox was around too, was he? The hacker-slash-rigger, was he another team omae, or someone to keep an eye on them?

Still stuffing his face with the burger and wiping it with a napkin, Watcher casually walked to just behind Mr. Fox. "Still obsessed with your toys, are you?" He grinned with the gibe.

"I was wondering when you would see me, Watcher. These toys make me better able to do my job. Not everyone can be an adept., the statics are staggering against. Did you hear the rumor that the meat in those burgers has the side effect  of stunting  growth in lab rats?" Mr fox doesn't even turn to look at him.  "How is your business for you?"

Over the com, Watcher and Mel get a profile on Matryoshka. This job gets more and more interesting. An investigator, a hacker, an art thief and a Second Story Girl.

[spoiler]The profile is background of the art crimes and rumors that are running around the matrix about the person. What ever 8 successes would come up with.

invisablecastle.com was down this morning. had to roll manually. [/spoiler]

[Jian]

"Already short." Watcher snorted. "How do you think work goes in this day and age? Always clients." As Fox popped him the data, Watcher finished off his burger. Pretty significant hiring op if this represented the group. "And you brought a friend over there, I see."