[Walks Through Walls]

The street is dirty and looks like the cleaning crews haven’t bothered to come by in a couple weeks. You try not to take to deep of a breath as you enter the side street. It is amazing how quickly things get run down even in Everett. You look at the faded street numbers and wonder again why Mr. Johnson wanted to meet at this bar. There is the lore shop that your fixer told you about, and after a minute you see the small sign pointing down to Rikki’s Rathole.

   The AR menu comes up and then fails then is back up as you enter the bar. Hopefully the security is better than the augmented reality of the place. Your first thought is dive as you take in the small tables in the dim lights. As you start into the bar you hear the murmur of conversation of regulars who feel at home here. A glance around tells you that almost every race and ethnic background is present, but somehow Mr. Johnson still stands out like a sore thumb.

   The tall black man stands just under two meters tall, and with his wiry build he could be elven, but you aren’t sure. He smiles at you raises his glass and motions you over to the bar. As you approach he rises and says, “Y’all get a drink on me and then come on I have a room in the back where we can talk business.” You see the old confederate flag stitched to the back of his synth leather jacket as he leads the way back to a small room. He flicks on the lights as he walks into the room, and you associate the hum to poor florescent lights until you step in and no longer hear the murmur of the bar just outside the door. He shakes each of your hands as you walk in, and says. “Thanks for meeting with me on such short notice.”

   After everyone is seated he says, “Thanks again for meeting with me. The job I need you to do is find someone for me, and keep an eye on him until I can talk to him. I am from Atlanta and as such don’t really have any contacts in the area unlike yourselves. Because of this I have not been able to track down the individual to this point. I have a couple of leads, but have yet to catch up with him, and am running out of time.” He pauses and looks around the room to gage your reactions. Seeming satisfied he continues, “The person in question is part of a group that has been passing off fake ancient artifacts in the CAS. I have been hired to take him back to Atlanta for questioning in the matter. I can pay you 10,000 nuyen each to find him and watch him until I can get there and take him into custody.”

   “So are you in?”

[Blue]

Rat steps through the doors of Rikki's Rathole with one hand, his other on one of the twin Predators at his hips. For all that the Rathole is a dive, for Rat, the place is a bit upscale. For one, there doesn't seem to be any bodies (living or dead) on the floor. The big ork looks around the room, evaluating everyone, before stepping in.

There is really no question who they're meeting here. Mr Johnson might as well have had a neon light over his head with a blinking arrow pointing at him. Rat moves through the tables to meet Mr Johnson and shakes his hand when offered. He nods at the drink offer and gives his order to the bar's AR presence. He has no plans to drink it, and his hands never get very far from his guns.

Rat picks up his drink and follows the tall black elf? back to the meeting room. Unsurprisingly, the room is a lot cleaner than the bar and the automatic electronic noisemake muffles both the sounds of the bar as well as Mr Johnson's voice as he explains the terms of the contract. Find a guy. Watch him. Sounds just a little too easy, but his last upgrade cost more than he'd wanted and Rat is not in a position to say no to easy money. Even if it's just bait.

[Loki]

 He'd had his matrix persona in the bar for the last 15 mins just to keep an eye on things. Everything appeared copacetic so it was go time. Walking into the bar, Kage heads straight to the Johnson. Not about to pass up a free drink he flips the AR menu an order for a local synth beer and follows to the meet.

Smiling at the well kept meeting room, he gives it a quick scan for hidden nodes then settles in for the pitch.

Could be worth it, may be some side opportunities here. Also if this guys CAS then my pasty ass is cantonese. Really, a flag on your jacket?!? Kage IMs to the team

[Kontact]

Dizzy moved openly into the bar and took a look at all of the patrons.  She took the time to mark them in her mind for later.  It was always good to be prepared.  That done, she zipped back to her body as it traveled by autocab to the little dive.  Projecting her mind in this way was always discomforting.  The past association of massive electrical shock each time she attempted to do so during her incarceration had conditioned her against the activity on an unconscious, lizard-brain level.  So what.  Who was she if not the master of her own mind.

The cab pulled up and she got out, collecting herself against the night.  Entering the bar, it was not much different in person.  Same dingy walls and same dingy people.  She saw the man who had summoned her there and followed him into the back room with the others.  The proposal was simple.  Too simple.

"Two things gotta be addressed before we take this forward.  First, I don't know you, I don't know your people and you ain't from here, so you pay half up front.  That or you put the money in escrow.  Second, is the matter of contingency pay.  You are paying us to watch a man.  We need to talk rates in case this becomes something else entirely."

[Walks Through Walls]

Kage finds that the node configuration of the bar was probably done around the time of the crash if not before. You know you could have any info from it in seconds. There is a slave node showing security systems for the doors and main room, but the meeting room appears to be private.

When Dizzy first assenses the bar she sees that there are a couple of magically active people in the bar though none of much power including the bartender. There is also a spirit that looks like a dog curled up at his feet that is watching the bar. When you look at Mr. Johnson you see he has considerable magical power, and a couple of talisman are glowing on his body. As you look a bit closer you identify a ring, a necklace and a long knife at his hip.

Mr. Johnson looks at Dizzy when she talks and says, "I understand completely. As far as payment which would you prefer half up front or the escrow account? I am willing to do either one." He pauses then just as you are about to answer continues, "I am paying you to find him and then watch him. I don't forsee it becoming something else though he is dangerous, and I am sure doesn't want to go back for questioning so I guess it is possible. What type of contingency pay did you have in mind?"

[Boer_Kommando]

Sir Kickz followed the crappy gridlink guide directions before having to depend upon his own limited knowledge of the area. He kept the music down and the neon carriage lights off hoping to not call attention to himself, but that was shattered when he exited the tiny sports compact car in his Urban Explorer jumpsuit. The suit was muted as far as they go a mix of blacks and greys, but he hadnt turned off the luminesence white patches yet...they matched the white Kong-Nike athletic shoes Sir Kickz was sporting. Stepping onto the street Sir Kickz inwardly sighed and regretted wearing a pair of white shoes out, but if the job paid well he'd buy two pairs to replace them.

Sir Kickz didnt take a drink, not to be rude, but he didnt trust the quality of the water they'd serve in this dump and his preferred drink of choice...Hurlg would hamper him if the job required immediate action. Sir Kickz grinned as it became apparent that atleast one of them here knew how to handle these meetings, because it sure as hell wasnt Sir Kickz. He watched the exchange, picking up some pointers.

[ChaosDman]

Jaz entered Rikki's Rathole with confidence, after all it is important to make a good impression on the client. Jaz looked around the room and instantly his eyes fixed on a tall black being at the bar.
"Here goes nothing," Jaz said to himself.
Jaz meets Mr.Johnson and takes his offer of a free drink. Having been to this bar before, Jaz orders the usual, a strong shot of homemade vodka, and follows Mr.Johnson into a slightly nicer room. Jaz notices some faces he has seen before, and acknowledges his interest in the job. Another 10,000 nuyen under Jaz's belt would be much appreciated. Jaz does note that there could be some expected trouble for this job, five people to watch one guy, really? But money is money to Jaz, hell, the more company could make this job fun.

[Loki]

"Say our rabbit is about to go to ground or skip town. Being a smuggler, the 2nd option is one he likely has a plan in place for already. And your other assets aren't available. It's entirely possible that this becomes an... unwilling extraction." Smirking at the last bit."Smiley, what's the goin rate on those?"

[Kontact]

"Also this guy pissed your people off enough to track him down 5000 kilometers - across the whole continent.  You might not be the only one looking for this puto.  If we put word out and a third party starts drafting off our investigation, we might need to protect him as well.  As it is, you're paying us to watch a man.  We could watch him die.  That might not fit your idea of what's best, yeah?"

[Walks Through Walls]

Kage's analyze program shows a firewall of 5 and Mr. Johnson is running edit, encrypt, and browse at the moment.

Mr. Johnson gives you a tight grin as he glances around the room. "I understand your concern about the situation changing and getting out of control." He pauses and then continues, "Let me try to address your concerns in order."

"Kage, your target isn't a smuggler. He does the fake enchanting for the group, and as such is seen as the weak link in the operation. He is based out of the Seattle area, and doesn't have any contacts outside the sprawl that I can find so I really doubt he'll run, and if he does let me know where he is headed I'll pick up the trail and pay you for your time. As far as going to ground that is the hope. When he hunkers down keep an eye on him and let me know and I'll come take him into custody."

He takes a drink from the glass he carried in from the bar and turning to Dizzy says,  "I don't think anyone else is looking for him currently. If it looks like the situation is about to spiral where someone is gunning for him call me and we'll make a deal on the spot then. If you end up watching him die I will pay you as agreed as long as you have called me before he dies. If you find a dead body I will pay part of your fee to cover your time and trouble. What percentage will depend on how long you have spent and what resources you have deployed. I want this to be a fair deal for all of us."

[Crossbow]

Smiley walks into the bar as if he owns the joint, which considering how much money he has dropped in various dives like this it would be suprising if he didn't help make a payment or two.  With a pitcher and mug in one hand he follows the team, talking up a cute brunette on the way to the back and giving a solid shake to the Johnson.  His concentration is getting a beer in him at first, so as he refills his mug he finally gets into the job at hand.

"So here's the thing, you want us to eyeball your guy, who you say you don't know but you then proceed to tell us about his how he will act or not act.  Then there is all this contingency and call me stuff, let's keep things simple.

15 a piece, with half now, the rest in escrow and we will find your guy keep him alive and in place for you, with the understanding that extra work will cost extra on the back end, we got a deal? "

12d6.hits(5) → [4,6,5,4,5,5,3,5,6,6,5,4] = (
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2921970/

[Loki]

Well cats and kitten, Johnny's got no analyze running on his comm but it's got a nice firewall, so I'm betting it's an expensive throwaway. He'd never see me kick in the door were I to slip in, shall I see what I can see? Kage IMs to the team, physically he nods to the Johnson's answers about the teams concerns, a perfect reflection of the negotiations playing across his chromed, golden eyes.

[Walks Through Walls]

After haggling back and forth for ten minutes you get a deal struck at 13,000 nuyen each with 8,000 up front, and the rest on escrow. He also promises to pay you more if for some reason you end up having to ward off some other group and protecting the man, or have to take him down yourself.

"Now that the money is settled here is what I know. His name is Vincent McPherson," with this he posts an AR trid picture. "I have tracked him to the Seattle area as I said before. I know he frequents a bar called 'Nightshade's Paradise'. I also know he has a place somewhere in Tacoma though I couldn't find an address under his name. He also often keeps the company of one Lisa Peterson," he sends you a trid picture of her, "so you may be able to follow her to him also."

"Not much else I know off hand are there any more questions I can answer for you?"

[Loki]

"What's the name of the group he works for?"

[Crossbow]

"You said this guy has been doing the enchanting for the group, does he spellcast?  Anything else?"