[farothel]

"Well, it's better then the sewers," Jade ssaid, "and way better than the shopping mall.  Now, did someone mention a free meal?"
She had decided against other clothes, keeping what she was wearing now.  But something more to eat would be very welcome.  And as soon as they found a new commlink, she would have a word with Diego.  If there's anybody who would know something, it would be him.

[Csjarrat]

Handing the keys to the team, Matt spoke up.
"I dunno about you guys, but I'm running out of cash on my credstik. As I got the rooms can one of you guys get the commlink? We need to head to dean's electronics, its only a couple blocks away but we need to get there before 6. We need to be out of the rooms by 12noon by the way, oh and apparently we get a free meal at the diner round the corner. Not sure we should all go as a group though, someone will have seen the news. Just so you guys know, I think the local gangers pinged me as I came in here. just keep your eyes peeled yeah. Thick grey hoodies with markings on em."

[farothel]

"I'll go," Jade said, "I'll probably stand out least here.  After all, a troll is a troll, right?  And I walk faster."
She walked out, moving at a crisp pace towards the electronics store, where she got two disposable commlinks.  They could be shared amongst the group for a couple of conversations.

[Ren]

--Miko--
Even though the ork behind the desk was a nice enough fellow, your money on the credstick was still only good enough for one battered-looking disposable, which is probably a used one, refurbished with a renewed service duration. And your guess was, it happened not only once. It still cost you a 150 this way, but it was a bargain, new burners usually cost around double. Anonimity was a valuable ware out here.

[farothel]

Even if she had only one, it would be good for a week, although with this one she wasn't sure, so maybe best do all the calls they had to do as quickly as possible.  She walked back to the motel, making sure she wasn't followed, or at least trying to.
"I have a 'link," she said to the others when she was back, "be carefull with it, I'm not sure how long it's going to hold.  And I'd like to have my one phone call as well."

[Csjarrat]

Great stuff, I'm gonna go take a shower and get cleaned up, I'll come give you a knock after that. Think we'll all need to make a call or two tonight! Catch you in ten mins.

Matt heads into his tiny box of a room and sits down for the first time in what seems like forever.
His feet were aching from being cooped up in his solid work boots all day and his hair had gone lank and greasy from the day's exertions. Sitting on the bed was dangerous, sleep gnawed at him, but that would have to wait.
A brief shower enlivened Matt, and he felt much fresher for the insta-clothes.
Matt took a few minutes to squirt some soap on the remaining mucky gear and scrub as well as he couof in the tiny sink.
donning his kit, he heads to Miko's room, hoping she'd finished with the comm

[MaxKojote]

Joel took advantage of the shower as soon as he got into the room, trying to clean himself up as best he could. He made a face as he changed back into  the same clothes he had on before. Unfortunately, with most of his money in a credit account and the rest in scrips, he was going to be poor for a while. It could be an interesting experience. He barely resisted the urge to lie down and sleep; he knew he still had tasks to do. Like figure out who to call. Dr Stills was a certain "No" right now, but perhaps Ms Steele might be of help.

Maybe he could try washing his clothes in the sink before he slept, and then letting it dry overnight. It's sort of cleaning them, right? Right. Maybe. It would have to wait though. Then he made a mistake by sitting down on the bed, and had to fight off the urge to just lie down and sleep. Not yet.

He roused himself and stood back up, leaving to head to Miko's room. Maybe Ms Steele had some spare clothes, or advice. Or lectures.

[Ren]

After getting to your rooms and refreshing yourselves as much as possible, you started to converge towards Miko’s room, to make whatever calls you wanted to. Some of those you expected to be unpleasant, but in your situation, there was nothing you could do about it.

As the rooms were claustrophobic enough without you jamming yourselves into one of them, as the commlink wandered from hand to hand, it was much more simple to bring it back to your rooms and make those calls in the solitude it provided. Fortunately, you didn’t meet anyone on the corridors yet, most of the occupants probably still worked.

[farothel]

As soon as she was in her room, Miko called Diego.  He was the only person of note she knew in the underworld who might have heard something.  And if not, he might know those who had.  With a big thing like this, someone must have heard something.  She made a note to call Annie as well, as she knew first hand that men could be very talkative to ladies who's affection was open to commercial negotiation.  Even if they shouldn't.

"Hey, Diego," she said, 'It's been a while.  Say, I'm sure you have already seen the news today, so you probably know what I'm calling about."

[spoiler]
OOC: if he doesn't pick up, I'll say the same thing, but with a 'please call me back as soon as possible, it's urgent', behind it.
[/spoiler]

[Ren]

Diego was usually just preparing for the night’s activities this time of the day, so it wasn’t surprising he answered the call immediately. “Yes?” His voice sounded official at first, but after your third sentence, it changed. It became a mixture of uncertainty and kindness. He sounded like someone in a difficult position. “My dear Jade, I don’t say I didn’t expect this call. I almost didn’t recognize your voice, the reception is so bad.” You also hear some disturbance in the line. “So, you’re in a big pinch again. And you expect me to help you put this one right as well.” The last sentence was less than half a question.
[spoiler=test please]Roll a Judge Intentions test. You get +3 dice because know Diego well.[/spoiler]

[farothel]

"Not necessarily," Jade said, "you know I didn't do something like this.  Why would I?  At the moment I'm mostly looking for information as to who really did it.  You know, to pay them a little visit.  A crime of this magnitude can't stay a secret, so if you can keep an ear out."
She didn't go on.

[spoiler]
judge intentions
intuition 4 + charisma 3 +3 bonus= 10 (10d6.hits(5)=2)
[/spoiler]

[Csjarrat]

Matt sat down on the small fold out bed and stared at the commlink wondering how the fuck he got into this mess. The day had been so fuzzy.. Or at least his memories of it were..
This was the first time he'd really had since the "event" to really try and piece it all together. [spoiler]Memory (6d6.hits(5)=1)[/Spoiler]

I was at work, but then what?....

The commlink looked like it had seen better days, but looking in the mirror, Matt realised he probably had too, at least for the foreseeable future. It galled him to ask for help, but there weren't many options left on the table. They were nearly out of cash, lost in a dangerous place and wanted by the law. If it weren't so shit it'd be funny.

Danny boy, it's Hunter. Look, before you say anything, it's bullshit man, we survived that, we didn't do it.
I need your help mate, really need your help.

[Ren]

--Miko--
You sensed that something was not right. Not the kind of wrong, where all hell got loose at the next moment, just the awkward feeleng that something is not going to go the way you expected. So, even as the next words might have shocked you, you couldn't really say you were not seeing the direction the conversation went. "Sweetheart, of course i know my Jade wouldn't do anything near that cruel. The Jade i know would vehemently protect her friends and charges when facing an attack but she wouldn't hurt a soul of her own accord. And it doesn't really matter that we haven't met that often since you went legit. You know that i like you.

"Only thing is, the Boss don't know you. The Donna don't know you. And i'm responsible to them, in more than one way. I'd truly like to help you. But if i do, and the Boss asks about you, i can't lie to him. And as it goes, he might have a different viewpoint of what to do about you and your situation. He might think you a liability." You felt that Diego was feeling bad about this. His voice was apologetic, and sometimes he was looking for the appropriate words longer, which was very uncharacteristic of him. "I'm sorry, girl, but the best i can do is i pretend this call never happened. That way, i can honestly say that i didn't help you, that i'm not bringing overwhelming problems to the Family.

"I hope you understand that this is not my choice as Diego, but the choice of a loyal member of the Family. I wish you only the best." This felt kind of an end to this conversation, and Diego probably didn't hang up because of common courtesy.


--Matt--
You heard Danny Boy gasp, then shout some instructions to one of his aides. "Call you back in two." he barked, then hung up.

The next two minutes were an infinite torture, but relief washed over you when the comm beeped at last. "Frag, man, what the hell did you mix yourself into this time?" He huffed and puffed heavily, he probably just heaved his serious bulk into the back office. "And don't be daft, of course i know you didn't do that. I couldn't manage to get everything needed for an op this big, so neither could you. And you're a friend, and my friends don't do drek like that." He took a pause, you almost saw him before your eyes, taking a deep draw from the flask of whiskey he always kept in his vest pocket. "And what do i hear, you said we? Do i really want to know the details? Well, of course i do, but that's not the point. Anyway, you know that if you need a place to lay low for a while, i can help you with that. Only this time, i'm not sure laying low for a while would solve anything." He took a deep breath, letting his brain catch up to his words then asked you. "So, what do you exactly need, and what do you want to do?"

[Csjarrat]

My mind is fragged man. I'm torn in two. half of me wants to get the hell out of UCAS, the other half wants to stand and fight, clear my name, you know?
Frag, I havent even seen more than about 10 seconds of the news today... How bad was it in the end? What are they saying about it all?

Thanks man, you're a fucking star, y'know?
I'm hunkered down in some shithole of a coffin motel near the barrens, we've been on our feet since this all kicked off, I'm with the other guys from the news broadcast earlier. Went looking to help survivors and some gangers had moved in, started looting the dead. Some bent KE had let em in and we ended up going out the way they came in, through the sewers.
I can't even turn my link on or use my 'cred account for fear of some KE rapid response team filling me with lead. I think we've only got about enough cash to last another night or two, but then what? I'm kinda out of ideas.
If i wanna fight this, I don't have any of my kit and if I wanna run, I dont have any of my wheels.
I'd think that my apartment and workshop are gonna be under surveillance so I can't go back there until the heat drops.


Matt took a deep breath and exhaled slowly
What do you think man? do I run for the rest of my life or do I fight my case and probably get the 'chair or life?

Can you get us somewhere to lay low, at least until our faces aren't on the news?
I know its a long shot but is there any chance you can arrange for my car to be "salvaged"? Half my drones are in that thing and my survival chances are a damn site higher if I have em with me.
My head is pretty banged up, but I think I left the car at work, probably in the contractors car park I guess?
And Danny, thanks man. Means a lot to have someone on our side.

[Ren]

--Matt--
You could feel Danny shudder. "It's pretty bad, man. The live feed's been on ever since i heard of the damn thing. I'm glad you came out of there in the knowing. There is only one worse thing than being one of the most wanted of today, it's being captured as one such man. I can't even imagine the shock you felt, mine was pretty much enough.
"Some two hours ago, things changed drastically. Knight Errant suddenly decided to go in in force, nobody knows why. They still don't let press in, they say it's too dangerous. But their spokesperson said that thousands are dead, they still look for the reason."

He seriously considered your questions for minute. "I don't know, seriously. What i know is, whether you want to run or fight, you have to go under right now. I wouldn't consider it wise to go even near your old place, or even here. Our friendship isn't a secret, sooner or later the pigs will put their snouts in here. As far as i know them, they will clean your place and put your things in an evidence locker, but if your car is not at home...
"And can't you be more specific where you left it? A day or two from now, i can send one of my people to take it to you, but only if you can tell me where to look. Contractors lot must be a big place. Anyway, don't worry about it, i'll take care of her."

He stopped again, not talking for so long that you almost thought the connection lost. Then he came forward with an interesting idea. "Well, i can get you and a bunch of other chummers a place to stay for a few days, if you say they can be trusted. But you know that's way too few. And whatever you say now, i didn't get to know you as someone giving up easily. So, if i were you, and after a good night's sleep i'd think of trying to get to the depth of it all, i'd call Tweety. I know he's all biz, but he's trustworthy. He plans for long-term, so he won't sell you out for easy nujen. And he has way more useful contacts in this case than me.
"Still, if you decide you want to start anew elsewhere, i know some guys who could get you out of town. Just don't expect them to do it for free, they aren't some fragging angels."