[Malevolence]

After the ork left, she bowed hastily to One and flew off, dodging the dragons and nightmare beasts that the clouds of smoke off the many grills had become. After she had navigated past the edge of the larger part of the crowd, she let herself become hidden again, and asked the loa to once again enter her body. "Please, get me home safe" she asked, and felt as the effects of the drug receded, her body and ailments now for the spirit to worry about.


The spirit did not take her straight home, nor had she expected it to. The loa loved the physical world, but they needed a body to inhabit in order to interact with it. Traditionally, the loa were thought to be ancestors, spirits of those that had gone before. In that view, the possession allowed them to once again enjoy life, and enjoy they did - that was another reason that Vodou rituals were filled with dancing and music and color and yes, drugs. A  boring ritual risked causing a disinterested spirit to wander away, taking someone else's body with them. Nowadays, the loa were just as often considered spirits from other planes as meathumans that had shuffled off their mortal coil long ago. In this view, an unattended spirit was a recipe for disaster, making the entertainment factor of the group summoning that much more important.


In her case, she was able to supervise the spirit on her own. Normally, when a body was possessed, the consciousness of the original owner was suppressed. They had no recollection of what transpired while the loa took control, or even of the phoopage of time. It was like blacking out from a drinking binge. In most cases, they didn't even remember the possession itself. But when a summoner was possessed, they remained fully aware, able to perceive the world through their senses. And so she was able to see as the spirit darted toward another part of the city, enjoying the freedom that flying provided. It perched on high ledges and watched the events below with interest, then moved on to the next area with blinding speed, repeating the process.


After a half an hour, it finally grew bored with this adventure, especially as it could sense through the spirt-summoner link that the Zen was still affecting Dolly and she was becoming increasingly agitated as the noise and activity caused nightmarish images to fill her senses. It shot straight up, well above the city, providing a stunning view of the crowds below and the shining water of the Atlantic as it stretched off to the horizon, then dropped down low to the swampy areas away from the bulk of the crowds. There it chased dragonflies and investigated various animals and items of interest. The natural setting calmed Dollys mind and the hallucinations turned bright and cheery. The dragonflies became pixie children, laughing and playing in the sun. The fish sang as they popped up to the surface to grab insects, and the frogs lept and sang baritone. Colors flew from the water as the sun glistened, casting rainbows everywhere she looked.


Before she knew it, the Zen was wearing off and the hallucinations faded. The spirit had gotten her home after a fashion - the wilds still called to her, even though she had spent her life among the cities of the metahumans. And it had kept her safe. She considered the task fulfilled, and gently urged the spirit back to the astral.

Thank you for this gift.


She checked in with the ork, then once again took the spirit into her self to carry her quickly there. Still unfamiliar with her new teammate, she willed herself visible before entering the coffee shop that the ork had chosen, then flew to where he sat after spotting him. He looked at her with a concerned crease to his brow and she nodded deeply and said "I am fine now. Thank you for your concern." She alighted on the table near where he sat and settled to her knees, sitting on the balls of her feet. "I haven't had a chance to review the ARO yet" she said quietly, hoping to avoid eavesdroppers. There were more than a few, as the sight of a pixie rarely failed to garner attention. She decided that switching to comms would provide better privacy, and so she continued there.


<< @Janitor [Dolly] Give me a few minutes to catch up and we can discuss plans. >>


She opened the file and perused what it had to offer, paying close attention to elements that indicated potential defenses against Awakened threats.

[Jack_Spade]

Mike just nodded and ordered discreetly a small espresso for the pixie. After exchanging com codes, he wrote back:

<<No sweat, I'm still collecting data.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Finally, Mike had finished his search and looked toward the pixie waiting for her to finish as well:
"Well, I got a few interesting bits about Skim Kid. First of all: One was right. That guy has a serious thing for polygamy. I count at least 12 different women, most of which he seems to have a kid with. The oldest is an eight year old ork boy. But he seems to spend a lot more time recently with the second oldest: A 7 year old ork girl, born to an elven mama. There seems to be school trouble. So we might be able to lure him there with a convincing call.

But the guy just doesn't seem to be able to stay at one place for two nights in a row. Also he doesn't seem to use the same car twice. Spends lots of time at a pawn shop just off Emerson.

His interests are goblin-rap although only as a casual, no real pattern there suggesting he would be a particular fan of any group. But he is a sports nut. Regularly goes out to watch boxing-matches and MMA fights. Usually with a new girl.
So a honey trap could work if we can find a good looking, reliable hooker... Ah, scratch that. He's probably seen those tricks before. Still, some tickets to a fight sent to him as a gift, bumping into him to soil his clothes and than wait for him on the john.

What do you have?"

[Malevolence]

<< @Janitor [Dolly] So far, not a lot. The dossier we got from One is basically just a pic of the ring and a pic of the 'mug' we're supposed to take it from. I still need to map out his Awakened security. Give me a couple minutes to scout it out. >>


She becomes concealed again and calls the loa into her body one last time. "Please keep me safe until I return" she asks, and once the spirit acknowledges she projects from her body, looking briefly around the cafe before flitting off through the astral towards the various residences the Janitor had highlighted. Cautiously, she scouts a few of them, being sure to include the residence of the 7 year old ork girl. Lastly, she scouts the pawn shop. She does not enter any of the locations, just sneaks a peek from the outsides looking for wards or Awakened nearby, but looking for angle that might afford her a view of the inside where possible.


[spoiler]
Sneaking Astrally to avoid detection. Not sure if the Concealment stays with her or her body, but it is a penalty applied to the observer so it is not included here anyway. However, I'm not sure what attribute to link to Sneaking when done on the astral - in Tabula Rasa we used Logic, but looking at the Astral Combat table, Willpower seems to be the Agility analogue. So I rolled with Willpower as it is my larger dice pool (at 7), and you can take three dice and one hit off the end to adjust it  down to Logic (at 4).
Sneaking Astrally: 12d6t5 3 [2, 5, 3, 1, 3, 4, 6, 2, 4, 3, 5, 3]
Astral Perception - making 5 rolls to represent 3 random houses from the list, the specific house that the 7 year old lives at, and the pawn shop.
Astral Perception (Assensing): 5#11d6t5 2 3 5 4 2
Of course my worst roll is at the pawn shop. Oh well, at least the residence of his favorite brat got a decent roll.
[/spoiler]


Once she returns, she bids the loa farewell, once again drops her concealment, and relays what she discovered to the Janitor.


<< @Janitor [Dolly] The ring he's wearing is very interesting. I'm going to search the Matrix for information on it. It just, I don't know, doesn't seem like the sort of bauble you'd just randomly find - either he custom ordered it or it came from somewhere and has a history that might prove illuminating. >>

She sips from the espresso while she browses the Matrix looking for info on the ring, discussing plans as she goes.


[spoiler]
I'm not sure if this is an extended test, so I only have the one roll. I can roll more if needed.
Computer 4 + Intuition 5 = 8 (drop dice as needed for modifiers):
Matrix Search: 7d6t5 2
8th die:
8th die: 1d6t5 0
[/spoiler]

[Malevolence]

Dolly summarizes what she has found on the ring as they talk.

<< @Janitor [Dolly] Looks like the ring is the work of a dwarf jeweler from Aspen. Almost a legend in the trade as far as I can tell - very exclusive. Every celeb that is anyone either owns one of his pieces, wants one, or is on the waiting list to get one. A bowel movement from him catches six figures, and the list to get one is three years long with a 25% non-refundable deposit. Even claims that Lofwyr's on his Christmas card list. This ring is well above Skim's paygrade, so there's gotta be a story behind how he obtained it - either he's got a secret life or stumbled into one hell of a score. All I can say is it wasn't magical when the dwarf sold it, but what happened after that? Hard to say, but apparently it's popular to enchant his pieces. >>

She finishes the espresso and mulls over the info, weighing the options for a plan.

<< He's got some warded rooms at the pawn shop and the second floor of the house with the troubled kid. The other places are unprotected as far as I can tell, other than whatever he brings with him. Let's move forward with your plan, but don't commit any serious resources to it until tomorrow. I want to see where he sleeps tonight and try to figure out what kind of security he fields. Might influence our plans some. >>

[Jack_Spade]

<<@Dolly[Janitor] Good idea. Can you have him monitored by one of your spirits, or do we do this the old fashioned way of following him around. If at all possible, I'd like to keep the kids and there mothers out of it. We don't want a blood feud if anything goes wrong.

Also, do you happen to know where he is right now?>>

[Malevolence]

<< @Janitor [Dolly] I'm not sure where I would start to find where he is currently, but my plan is to check each of his residences this evening around midnight. He should be at one of them, and I can see what his entourage looks like astrally. >>

<< The only potential problem I see with trying to railroad him into a bathroom at a public event is that even if we can keep the bathroom free of random observers, he may travel with bodyguards that would accompany him into the bathroom when he goes there to clean out any stains. Observing him as he travels around tonight and tomorrow will help us fine tune the plan. >>

<< If we do decide to take One up on his offer for another team member, we should also give them a chance to chime in before the plan is set in stone. It's polite, and it might save us from some aspect we missed, or provide better odds of success. Our time table certainly allows for it. Meanwhile, if you want to find a few potential events to use and get the lay of the land so we can be sure where to "accidentally" run into him to ensure he goes to the restroom of our choice, etc, we can hopefully be ready to just pull the trigger once we have everything else we need. >>


She knows that she shouldn't do any recon from her home lest it come back on her. But for now, home sounded good. There was little she could do until then aside from rest. "Let me know if you need any help from me. I'll contact you in the morning with what I found." She stands up, preparing to leave. "Thank you for the drink."

[Jack_Spade]

"My pleasure, be safe."

Mike tipped his hat and settled back into his seat.

<<Agreed. But I don't expect his bodyguards to accompany him to the toilet when there is an exiting fight going on. They are after all gangers and not trained professionals. At least I hope so. That is actually the main reason, I'd choose this venue: It's loud, it's exciting, alcohol flow and if you hit someone just right, it will look like he is just drunk. Personally, I prefer a taser for that, but we could use a double dose of CS+pepper punch on a slab patch to make him vomit before he goes down. Keeping the loo free will be the work of the second person with a discreet "now cleaning" sign that is removed just before the mark wants to enter.
But enough shop talk for now.
Have a good night.>>

Mike knew he had been cooped up to long in his hide out and was reluctant to return. But he was on a job and that meant a certain discipline. He got up, payed the remaining bill and went back to his place.

The next morning he was again punctual at the meeting place.

[Malevolence]

After bidding farewell, Dolly again summons the loa to take her home and hangs there for the rest of the day, briefly heading out around dinner time to get a meal before the festivities die down. She passes the time mulling over the task her and the Janitor were assigned, but makes little progress other than to curse herself for not demanding some sort of advance on the job. Perhaps at tomorrow's meeting once they have finalized the agreed upon terms.


As midnight nears, she slips into her sneak suit and then summons the task spirit again. The effort stresses her more than usual, but the loa that answers her call is also much more cooperative than usual. In the astral, it assaults her with questions about her past, her original parents, her fame, even her race in general. She patiently answers them honestly - to earn the favor of the loa is no small thing, and appeasing this spirit with simple answers was a small price to pay to remain in their good graces. With the spirit once again possessing her, guiding her physical body about at great speed, she is nearly impossible to spot. In addition to the suit providing her with near invisibility, her innate concealment makes her even more difficult to spot, her small size more difficult still, and the cover of darkness only adds to the skill required to detect the tiny pixie. And, in addition to all that, the spirit is skilled in the art of sneaking, using all of these advantages to their greatest benefit. With her body so well hidden, she feels safe enough having the spirit guide her within a half kilometer of each residence, sticking to the least populated areas in that range, so that she can astrally project and scout the possible hiding places of her quarry.

[Malevolence]

The searching goes quickly, between the speed boost from the spirit and the near instantaneous travel within the astral. It isn't long before she comes upon her quarry "sleeping" in a four story apartment building deep in Krubb territory. While there are no visible signs of astral security, and neither Slim nor his companion are Awakened, the high density of people makes it hard to determine just how much physical security is present. It is tempting to visit the building physically to get that information, but she doesn't want to take that risk without at least getting input from her teammate.


She commits Skim's aura to memory, then returns to her body, temporarily ejecting the loa so that she can use her trodes and commlink to send a message to Janitor.


<< @Janitor [Dolly] I found him deep in Krubb territory. No astral security, can't get a good look at the physical security without risking a closer look. Worth the risk, or hold off until we have better control of the situation? >>
>> Attachment: Skim.loc

[Jack_Spade]

<<@Dolly[Janitor] Probably dumb to ask, but if he has no astral safeguards, couldn't you send a spirit to him to snatch that ring? Or make one of them possess him? I could be there in like 20 minutes to take the thing from the scene.
In any case, I'm in for a visit. The sooner we get the ring, the sooner we can expect cash."

Mike already had his trousers back on and was tying his boots. A night excursion was exactly what he needed in this sticky heat.

[Malevolence]

Dolly acknowledges Janitor's message and asks him to bring a tag eraser or some signal blocking container for the ring, then stealthily flies to the roof of the building where she found Skim, scanning the area as she approaches to get the lay of the land and possibly spot some of the physical security she might have to avoid. She ponders what she learned during her astral trip here and determines that the only access to the outside for Skim is the building entrances on the first floor, the roof a story above, or the balcony in the same suite in which he was sleeping. The building is windowless leaving the balcony as the only access to the outside without leaving the suite, so Dolly takes one last astral peep at the suite and the adjacent rooms and hallway for signs of life, and double checks the ring for enchantments. She then outlines her plan with the loa - possess the unconscious Skim, sneak out of bed and to the balcony, looking for any cigarettes on the way for a cover story if needed, then leave the ring on the balcony and return to bed just as quietly. After Dolly has retrieved the ring and left the area, the spirit will return to the astral and erase any signs of its presence before returning to Dolly and expediting her trip to meet up with the Janitor.


It's rare for even the best laid plans to survive contact with reality, but Dolly crosses her fingers just the same, and puts her plan in action.

[Poindexter]

[Victory Apartments, Southside, Jacksonville, CAS. April 14th, 12:26am 2076]

Tonight is even hotter than today was, and the sound of parties is thick in every direction. The spirit of sunday afternoon has slowly morphed into a festive sunday night. Technically, it's monday, but the city as a single entity has decided not to think about the fact that it has to wake up in six hours for work. People are thick in the streets, for all the reasons you'd imagine, thick with sweat, flush with cash, and drunk with friends. The only place where there's any relief from the coking humidity and stagnant swamp air is up on the rooftops, where there's a little bit of wind, but there's no one up there.

No one but Dolly and Janitor. At least, that's what it looks like from what they can tell, perched on top of the very building their target, "Skim Kid" currently lay sleeping inside. From up here, observing the crowd below makes social interactions alot more obvious. It almost looks like a trid game from up here; one of those "stealth strategy" games that you keep seeing commercials for. There's obviously five or six orks you can see who are armed and posted up, as well as one troll. You both can tell from their GQ style of dress and their unique Or'Zet accent and slang that all six of them are Krubbs. The troll and two of the orks are hanging out on a corner about three blocks east, drinking and smoking, talking and laughing. The other three orks are posted near the entrance to the building you two are atop, but it's tough to tell if they're Skim's people specifically, or if they're just security for the drug trade that is happening out of the first floor lobby. It could be both, really. Skim's girl stays on the third floor of the building.

@Malevolence

The loa considers your plan as you lay it out, nodding it's head at the appropriate times and listening intently. When you're finished, it answers. "Is he with a woman?" After seeing you nod in the affirmative, it continues. "This one has many women. Men such as that build women adept at noticing a slip from bed." It scratches it's head for a moment in thought before suddenly smiling abruptly. "This will be a joyous challenge! May I improvise if I am discovered?" it says while eagerly nodding it's head.

[Malevolence]

"Honored loa, you are doing this favor for me, and I am grateful for any assistance you can provide. I would prefer you to not be discovered in the first place, but if you are, improvise how you like - I have merely provided some ideas. If you can't convince them you are this person, then flee on foot - they are not likely to harm your host, though they may try to disable him. You can ditch the ring discreetly during the chase so that we can recover it later. Ideally, they will never know anything is amiss until he awakes tomorrow and discovers the ring is gone, but if they know something's wrong anyway, we may as well complete the job. Oh, and one more important thing - no one is to come to too much harm, so fisticuffs only. Don't throw anyone off a building or into anything worse than a broken bone or two. Please."


She was a little concerned with the prospect of having a spirit, even a loa, attempt to pass itself off as a human convincingly. The loa's eagerness didn't help this feeling. But loa were difficult to curry favor with as it was. To flatly deny them a request would take a long time to recover from. Though revered, they could be much like children, requiring constant guidance to keep them from causing too much trouble. It was a delicate balance that the vodouisant had to carefully orchestrate if she wished to remain in the good graces of any given loa nation.


All she could do for now, was cross her fingers and hope things worked out.

[Jack_Spade]

Mike had started to look around and noticed several gang members that might become a problem. It seemed as if many of them were still a bit drunk from alcohol and drugs - not enough to be unable to do their job but inebriated enough to be guided more by emotion than rational thought.

Again he brought up his comlink and started a search for the links of the gangers. "Know your foe" was a useful advice and Mike wanted to know whatever he could gather about them.

He was no hacker, but he knew a thing or two about social engineering...

[spoiler]
If they are within 100m I should be able to see other devices without a search check.
Butt just in case: Matrix Perception:  Matrix Perception: 7d6t5 2
Matrix Search: Matrix Perception: 7d6t5 3
Mike is looking for the names of the guards and their social profiles. He is interested who has a steady girlfriend and if that girl knows the other guards.

If a distraction is needed, Mike will fake the call and set a jealous gang member against another... 



[/spoiler]