Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: adamu on <02-29-16/1813:12>
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Tuesday, 19 November, 1400; Caf'n'Go, 23rd Ave & East Pine St, Capitol Hill, Seattle
There was a coffee shop across ths street from the workshop John rented. It was unassuming and pretentious at the same time, which he knew from having heard patrons use those words to describe it. He often stopped there on his way to or from his home. He could watch the people, and no one cared or noticed if he didn't really drink the coffee.
Sometimes he smiled at people. Sometimes they smiled at him.
Today two young women came to where he was sitting. Both were of average height, one had even features except for a somewhat heavy jaw. She was blond, but the roots said it was from a bottle. The other had full lips and squinty, close-set eyes, and was either really blond or had dyed her hair more recently. They wore tight T-shirts and denim leggings. They looked a lot like other people in the neighborhood, a lot like other people in the coffee shop.
"Hi! Hey, you live across the street there, right? I'm Cheryl, this is Kate. We've having a party tonight, just down the street. It would be great if you could come." She twisted a finger in the latest cute way kids did and an ARO with the address and other particulars done up in rudimentary graphics made itself available to download.
Kate rushed to add: "We're inviting everyone in the neighborhood." Some kind of disclaimer. Cheryl gently chided her near-rudeness as they moved on to the next table.
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John smiled. He had to concentrate to get it right. 45 small servos where involved in that simple operation and still he was sure that he hadn't got the eyes right. That's why he inclined his head bashfully and replied with soft voice no.2:
"Thanks, that's very kind of you. I'll try to attend if my work permits."
He knew that it would probably be a dumb idea to get to know his neighbors better - or rather that they got to know him better. His exterior was handsome and convincingly human - up to a point. People who talked for longer with him always noticed that there was something off with him. Usually it was the eyes. Most assumed it was extensive cyberware replacement - and they were right, more right than they knew.
Watching them go, John felt something akin to sadness. On an abstract level he knew that he should find Kate very attractive - she was the kind of girl he liked before the... accident. But now there was no rush of excitement, no funny feeling in his belly and no... well he could have triggered a response down low, but doing it intentionally just seemed weird.
Instead he focused on the invitation - Nachthexe would probably tell him to avoid it at all costs. She really wasn't big on physical outings. But what was the use of having a physical body if you didn't use it. Now he'd have to look if he could find a dancing autosoft and if he could find the cash somewhere.
He sighed internally and then remembered to engage the little pump to simulate it also outwardly. Probably best if he waited until the party began before spending the cash on the program - or maybe he should just learn to do it. But having skill soft was just so convenient.
He took one last sniff of the coffee aroma around him and stood up. Time to go to the park and see if the new scent package stopped the dogs from freaking out on him.
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2300; 23rd Ave south of East Pine St, Capitol Hill, Seattle
Even without his audio enhancements he could easily find the party without the address. The music was like a beacon, the predictable but irresistable electro-rhythms of the Latch-Key Kids permeating the surrounding blocks. The invite had said nine, so he went at eleven. There was no need to knock, the party had spilled over the front yard, and the door was wide open. Almost everyone had plastic cups in hand. He went inside, and ran into Kate, the one with the squinty eyes. Her full lips formed a polite smile and she used her head to motion towards the keg in the kitchen - her hands were full with empties and assorted party debris. It was clear she was trying to keep the place from descending too far into domestic disaster.
Her roommate Cheryl was clearly far less concerned, across the room dancing in jeans and a bra on the coffee table. A lot of people, in fact, were dancing - none seriously, mostly just moving to the music without thinking as the alcohol and whatever else they'd imbibed relaxed them.
There were several faces he recognized from the neighborhood, the coffee shop. Some smiled.
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John nodded and got himself a cup. Then he did what he always did when he got somewhere new: He explored the grounds and noted all entries and exits. Only when he had seen it all (including a few pairs of lovebirds in various states of undress) did he return to the main dance area. The beer had lost most of its carbon dioxide and no longer smelled fresh, so he discreetly placed the cup on a table and started to move with the rhythm. It was actually not hard - after memorizing the pattern, he could leave it to the drone body to repeat it. But he noticed soon that that wasn't enough - machine precision wasn't working - except for that one industrial piece. So he concentrated on interjecting variations in the pattern. That proved harder to do - especially since that did tax his gyros hard enough to make a little whining noise even above the sound of the loud music.
Realizing he had drawn attention to himself, he reigned in his movements and brought them to the same low key performance as the rest of the party goers.
He left the room to find Kate - without thinking he started to collect trash as well. He had noticed that for some reason it somehow relaxed him to create order and patterns.
"Great party, thanks for the invitation Kate. Is there any particular occasion to celebrate?" He smiled and he was almost sure that he had gotten the eyes right this time.
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2315; 23rd Ave south of East Pine St, Capitol Hill, Seattle
Kate started to answer with a friendly smile, then paused with a sort of quizzical look on her face, like she'd just maybe noticed something amiss, but then it was gone and she resumed smiling as she spoke: "Well, any excuse right? Hey thanks for helping with that - here, dump it into this bag. Oh, I guess the official pretense is Cheryl's big signing." She put her fingers up to place mock quotation marks over the last two words.
"Signing? is she a singer?" John asked.
"Actress. It's just with an agency, but she's pretty excited about it. I'll admit, they come off pretty slick. Some sort of Korean label trying to get started here in Seattle." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone, and said something John assumed she would not have to a total stranger had she not been drinking. "I was actually a bit surprised. Always been skeptical about her career choice. I mean, yeah, she's pretty. But not movie star pretty, you know?"
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"Wow, I had no idea. Well, that is as good a reason as you can find for a party. I have to admit, I'm quite out of the loop on the current music and movie scene."
John studiously compacted the trash to make room for the next haul using it as an excuse not to look in her face.
"You see, I'm a security contractor. If you tell me about things like this, I'm more interested in the Korean label trying to get it's teeth into Seattle - it's kind of a vocational disease.
But more important, what is it you are doing? If I had to guess I'd say you want to do something serious with your life."
John wasn't entirely sure, what he was doing here. Nothing good could come out of this - unless Kate was in urgent need of a mercenary or a killer-android.
He immediately stopped that train of thought when he noticed that the drone pilot had started plotting the most efficient way to dispose every person currently inside the building.
He looked her in the eyes again and smiled: "I'm sorry, I just realized I haven't actually introduced myself: The name is John. John Henry."
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Kate smiled mischievously and waggled her shoulders and hips in a way that teasingly said something like, 'wow, you're all that,' and mimicked him with "Is that kinda like 'Bond. James Bond.'? You're a hoot, John!"
It wasn't the cleverest of things to say, but she had clearly been drinking a bit.
Her eyes, however, were alight, and it appeared to John that he had done something to make himself attractive to her. "So, you're really a security contractor? Do you have a gun?"
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It took John a second to find "James Bond" in the matrix. The blank look changed back into the smile in an instant: "Oh, no. I'm not a secret agent."
'Careful now, don't start posing just because she is a nice girl...'
"But I do own a gun - several actually."
'God damn it! ok, you can save this just don't...'
"But mainly, I use a shock pad. Got it integrated in my hand."
'Fuck you!'
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2316; 23rd Ave south of East Pine St, Capitol Hill, Seattle
Kate got that funny smile on her face again, the one that showed her trying to decide whether to be amused or disturbed.
"Okay, well, that could be good fun," she quipped. "Shock pad - right on. Listen, um, you're sweet, but I've got a whole party to take care of here...so just mingle and have a good time, okay?"
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John wanted to face palm, but that would have only dented his face. He smiled and said: "Sure, sorry, I'm keeping you from your other guests."
He stuffed the last piece of garbage into the bag and retreated into the house and into the backyard. But somehow it now seemed all very tedious. Especially since the virtual DJ now had changed to dwarvish infra reaggae. Besides, his batteries where getting below half load and he hated being not in top condition. So he vaulted over the fence and jogged back to his own place.
Only when he had plugged in at his outlet he allowed himself to replay everything he had said and done - and cringed mentally.
'Stupid, stuipid..."
He needed some perspective on this, so he called Nachthexe: <<Hi Hexy, are you still up? I was at a house party tonight. My two hot neighbors were celebrating with the whole street some trideo-deal. Got a bit flirty with one of them and almost blew my cover. But it's all cool now. By the way, do you know which Korean trideo label is currently recruiting local talent around here? I've a feeling that something is not totally kosher about that.>>
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2337; John's Workshop, Capitol Hill, Seattle
The figure floating in John's AR view was surreal in her beauty - but then that came cheap in the matrix. He was a lot more interested what she knew...or could find out.
"Revster honey," she winked, "I knew nothing about Korean trid labels until zero-point-nine seconds ago, making it three-point-one seconds since your query reached my dainty virtual ears. Now I know all. Not sure I like the sound of you playing knight-in-shining-armor for some local chicas, though. Did it ever occur to you that you owe me at least one good rescue?"
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<<For that you'd need to fail at beating up all opposition by yourself. If it should come to that unlikely situation I'll be the first in line to get you out. Promised.
And I'm not exactly White-Knighting either. The one concerned isn't even my type exactly.
But here is what I had to think when I heard about a young actress to be discovered by an up and coming Asian "film company": Slavery.
I've seen operations like this in Africa and the Middle East. Young girls from America and Europe are "cast" and taken under contract. Than they are put into a plane to go to a location shoot. There they are stripped of all identification and usually clothes as well, raped, drugged and sold to whoever pays the most for a young, clean, white girl.
So come on and just tell me I'm paranoid and afterwards we can go and take part in a raid on the MDK host. My werewolf hunter is almost ready for the lair attack.>>
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2338; John's Workshop, Capitol Hill, Seattle
<<Well, you're on the right track, but not quite so melodramatic. Listen, I already hit the UW database, pulled all the images of acceptably cute, slender women in your neighborhood, then crossed them with files of three Korean media companies currently making forays into the Seattle market. Your friend Cheryl, under the incredibly original moniker of Jade Whisper, has signed with Red Ribbon Productions, headed by Peter Jun Je Wan. But according to their talent resource development records, she's still in the grooming phase. They haven't yet told her she's being hired for porn. And if they're bothering with a grooming process, Revster my paramour in waiting, then the bad news is that its some nasty stuff, because girls like Cheryl are lining up to get into the vanilla stuff." The way she spoke to him reminded John that, although she flirted shamelessly with him, she still correctly saw him as somewhat young and naive. "The good news, of course, is that they also wouldn't bother with the grooming if they were planning on using force...maybe."
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<< Ah, the good old carrot and stick approach - except you don't know where both of these objects will end up...
The only question I have now is: Should I warn them? On the one hand you can't ask of anyone to make an informed decision without all the information. On the other hand it's really none of my business. And who knows, maybe "Jade Whisper" already did some adult entertainment before - with such a stage name...
Ah what the hell, I'll sent Kate a message and leave it to her.
So, how about a little online action than? The werewolves aren't gonna kill themselves - actually they might, but we don't get XP for that.>>
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Tuesday, 19 November, 2338; John's Workshop, Capitol Hill, Seattle
Nachthexe gave a short virtual shrug in response to John's musings about a couple of local coeds he's met, and then responded to something she actually cared about. <<I'm uploading you a program I just wrote - it bypasses the game's structural architecture and goes straight for the machine code. Represents as the usual wolfsbane, but does triple the damage...."
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<<Woohoo - cheating, I like it.
Maybe I should get myself an infected hunting licence. Have there been posted any vampire or loup garou bounties recently?
I could claim my subscription to the game as a income related expenses. Although for that I'd need to pay taxes in the first place.
But on a more serious note: I really could use some work. Maintaining this precision machine is no easy feat. And besides - If I'm not occupied I start looking for trouble - or for some damsels in distress.>>
With that John switched the feed to enter the game host.
While he waited in the lobby, he composed a short message to Kate:
<<Thanks again for the invite to the party. I have to admit, I was a bit preoccupied with what you said about the Korean label. A contact of mine has gotten back to me about them. It seems that they are in fact a front for hard core adult entertainment. Not that I'm judging, but you might want to ask Cheryl if she is aware of this fact. Working with this kind of business can be very problematic - especially if you want to get out again.
Best regards
John>>
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1402; John's Workshop, Capitol Hill, Seattle
John had been gaming for the past fourteen hours straight - one of the great advantages of his new existence was never having a need for a piss or snack break, just as long as he was near a charging station.
But his lycanthrope hunt was disturbed by an incoming call from Kate. <<John, please, you have to come downtown. Please. I told her not to go and we had the biggest fight but now you have to come help her they won't let me in and she can't come out. Please please, you have to help us!>> And so on...
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'Please help us Obi-Wan, you are our only hope... Right.'
John logged out and gave Nachthexe a quick call: <<Shit hit the fan already and the girl is in trouble - thanks to disregarding my warning. I'll keep you posted.>>
Than he answered:
<<Hey Kate, sorry to hear that. I'll come over in 10. Be sure to keep your doors closed. If they know that you are the only one who cares about her, they could decide to silence you instead of bothering their lawyers - who I would assume aren't any less efficient but cost more.>>
John quickly changed into his Armor Jacket, but left the rifle where it was. Taking the shortcut through the backyards again, he ran there in record time.
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1422; Downtown Seattle
Kate was waiting by her Jackrabbit, and got behind the wheel the moment she saw John. He folded himself in and she was off with an amateurish shriek of tires, safety warnings and GridGuide protocol reminders lighting up red across her dash. "Thank you so much, John. Oh, we have to hurry, who knows what they might be making her do right now..." and in that vein for the next twenty minutes of heavy traffic, during which John was unable to get any information of the slightest use from her.
Soon she was double-parking at the entrance to one of the countless highrises populating the downtown cityscape and getting out. "It's in here," she said, half running for the entrance to the commercial building. John could see a spacious lobby stretching out beyond the doors, with a three-seat reception desk and hallways leading to banks of elevators.
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"Kate, KATE, KAAATE. Stop!" Kate looked astounded as John's grip closed hard like a vice on her shoulder. "Do you think we can just walz in there and get her out?
You stay here in the car and wait for us to come out - ok?"
<<Nachthexe, darling, could you do me a big favor? I need a few camera feeds spoofed/taken out and maybe a few locks opened - maybe an alarm suppressed. Find the address attached.>>
While he waited for a reply, he loaded up the Smart Link, Maneuver, Targeting and Electronic Warfare programs
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1422; Downtown Seattle
"Right, right okay," the girl said, and scampered back to the car.
The other girl said, <<Right, right away.>> As she digitally relayed a price and waited for the release of cred from John's account to be authorized. <<Now just find something at least sort of natural to do for the next twenty ticks, and then you'll be able to walk right in. And hurry on up to the sixteenth floor - lots up fun going on up there...>>
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John oked the transaction and turned to Kate: "Before I do this, I should warn you: After I bring her out, you both have to leave. That is - leave this city. Those guys know who you are and they don't particularly respect the police. And they likely have hackers at their disposal who will have no problem to track you through your SIN. I hope you both are good enough friends for you to leave your life behind."
Seeing the shocked expression he added: "I'm sorry, but that are the facts. You might have a chance if you can convince a federal agency like the FBI to take this case and maybe get you into witness protection, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
My contact just informed me that she is most likely on the sixteenth floor and it's not pretty.
You have to decide now."
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1422; Downtown Seattle
"Whoa, what are you talking about? I still have to finish my...no, no. I'm not going anywhere. You just have to get Cheryl out of there, okay, before she ruins her reputation. Something like this...she'll never get a real job. Just go in and talk to them. Help Cheryl, okay. Listen, um, I have to go." She got into her car. "Just help Cheryl!" she called out the window as she pulled into traffic.
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John went to the effort to take a breath just so he could sigh. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid.' And he wasn't sure if he meant the girls or himself.
Now there was nothing to it. He went to the closest garbage bin, pulled out a Stuffer Shack bag and made it look like he was just an intern returning from a food run. With quick steps and a purposeful stride he entered the lobby and moved - without sparing one look for the security - he went to the elevators and pressed the call button.
<<Nachthexe, I'm at the elevator, I'm not sure if it needs a card to work. Please take care of it.>>
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1429; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
Neither the reception staff nor the elevator gave John any trouble, and a whisper in his ear from Nachthexe assured him he'd be burned by no cameras either.
Then the doors opened directly onto a plushly carpeted lobby. Tasteful glamour shots of beautiful young women adorned the wood-panel walls, and facing him was another long reception counter, flanked on either side by doors. There was leather seating arranged to either side of the elevator. Above the immaculately turned-out young Asian woman behind the counter were large letters spelling out Red Ribbon. An array of AR windows presented themselves to John, with headings offering a wide range of helpful reading on the company for any visitor to peruse - corporate profile, investor relations, CSR, entertainment products, recruiting.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked the woman in perfectly chipped English.
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"Oh hi, yeah, I'm here as the representative of the estate of Carmen Meyers, or as you might know her Cheryl. Her parents have expressed concern over the latest... adventures their daughter has gotten herself into. I'm authorized to offer a considerable buy out of the contract. Please inform her and her "agent" that I have arrived."
John gave her a smile with empty eyes - it was disconcerting, but for some reason people associated it with the smile of a lawyer.
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1429; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The woman kept a relaxed smile on her face as her eyes quivered in AR-reading mode. It took her longer than it did most people - of course their records wouldn't link the girl they knew as Cheryl to anyone named Meyers.
But the gambit seemed to work, because she was smiling and saying, "One moment, sir." Almost before she had completed her short phrase, the door to John's right of the counter opened, and a Korean man in an impeccable if overly flashy suit took a single step out. "Please sir, welcome." He beckoned with his hand. "Please let's speak in my office."
John was no corp suit himself, but he was willing to bet this guy was no seasoned media executive.
In the office, the man closed the door and offered John a seat. There were three - all deep leather chairs that were both extremely comfortable and designed to keep the guest's eyes at a lower level than their host's. The man sat in a plush swival chair behind his hardwood desk.
There was a door to the left that probably adjoined whatever space was behind the door leading out of the lobby. It was a heavy door, but loud pop music could still be heard coming through it.
Once seated, the man spread his hands in a placating gesture. With an innocent shrug in his voice, the man said, "Cheryl gave her surname name as Cagle. I would hate to think that we've been misinformed, Mr...."
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"John Preston from Johnson, Johnson, Johnson & Johnson, Attorney at Law. Pleasure to meet you."
<<I hope you are getting all this, I need a quick spoof for those credentials.>>
"Well, the name is not wrong per se - part of the agreement Mrs. Meyers made with her parents was that she would not use the family name during her... sabbatical. She therefore got a... certain dispensation through a D.C. court, so she could use her second name and the birth name of her mother on her ID. The measure was granted to prevent harassment and abduction - as you can imagine a well-to-do family must either invest in high security or high obscurity.
I am specialized in criminal law and not usually called to work on contract negotiations, so please excuse my clumsiness in regard to the proper parlance. But the family felt that time was a pressing issue in this matter and since I happened to visit another client close by they asked me to hop over. So again, please excuse my lack of a proper suit, but there are some more unsavory parts in this otherwise quite charming city that made certain fashion concessions necessary."
'Not to mention that I just spend 1500 nuyen on Law Knowledge Autosoft to keep this bluff going'
"But to business. I was informed that Mrs. Meyers entered into a contract with your firm to produce certain entertainment media. You couldn't know that Mrs. Meyers already has signed a contract to her family that explicitly forbids her to from associating with certain genres. Naturally, my clients recognize your de jure existing claims but would be very, very interested in buying out her contract. I'm sure you have a projected return on investment charted out. They are prepared to repay all investments made up to this day and compensate you also with a one-time direct cash payment.
It seems to be a cheaper way than to buy your whole company and liquidize all its assets.
So if you can show me those projections, I can get in contact with my client to quickly release the needed funds."
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1431; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The man steepled his fingers and smiled guardedly at his guest. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Mr. Preston. I am Lee. I think we can oblige you, sir. But I am not much of a numbers man. I will have to speak with our strategy team, and once they compile a package for you I'll need to run it by legal to clear it for disclosure. Perhaps half an hour? You'll have to excuse me, but I'll have tea sent in. Unless, perhaps you'd care for something harder? Just let the girl know when she comes in."
He left the room with an ingratiating smile, said something in Korean without closing the door, and was replaced by the receptionist. She stood directly in front of him. Her legs were muscular and her skirt very short. "Mr. Lee will be a moment, sir. Is there anything I can get for you?"
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"Of course, thank you."
With another fake smile John waited until the man had left the room.
When the assistant appeared he said: "Just a glass of water will do nicely. Thank you." He pointedly looked around before he said in a somewhat conspiratorial whisper: "I have to admit, I am impressed. This is a very professional outfit, much more class than I am used to deal with here in Seattle. Have you been working long here?"
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1434; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The woman only smiled at first, looking into John's lifeless eyes. Then left the room, returning moments later with a bottle of still spring water on a tray with a glass of ice and wedge of lemon. Only after she had poured the water and proferred it to him did she answer his question.
"We have been in Seattle for only three months now, but business has been very busy. This city has qualities that afford us rich opportunities. It has been a struggle for our team, but we receive diligent and thoroughgoing support from our parent in Korea." Script completed, she asked, "Is there anything else I can offer you, sir?"
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"Yes actually." John said, touching the woman lightly on the sleeve of her upper arm. "Since I'm waiting here anyway, could you give Mrs. Meyers... or rather Mrs. Cagle as you know her a quick heads up that John is here to deal with her contract and that she please should stop making a scene. She tends to be a bit... over exited - especially if her parents involve themselves in her life. I'd rather not have her embarrass herself and them."
[spoiler]
Con - Persuation (http://orokos.com/roll/390461): 5d6t5 3 [5d6t5=6, 6, 6, 1, 4]
Sleight of Hand (http://orokos.com/roll/390460): 10d6t5 4 [10d6t5=2, 2, 5, 4, 1, 6, 5, 5, 3, 4]
John tries to mark the assistant with a stealth tag, so he might be able to find out in which room Crystal is kept
[/spoiler]
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1434; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The woman did not pull away, but in fact moved slightly closer for a moment when John touched her arm. If she noticed him plant a tag on her, she gave no sign of it. "Of course I'll speak to Mr. Lee about it right away." She bowed and retreated from the room, but her signal went only back to her desk in the foyer.
After a few minutes, the pop music that had been seeping through the door to the adjoining room went off.
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John arose from his seat. It was time to get a clearer look on this operation. He opened the door and with an apologetic smile said: "Call of nature" before moving in the vague direction of the toilets. On his way he took note of the evacuation plan displayed in case of a fire. As he suspected, only one set of stairs and the elevator were available for this eventuality - and the elevator would be shut down. The fire escapes where standard mag locks - programmed to open into the staircase in case of a fire alert.
He entered the modern, stainless steel bathrooms and went for a stall. There he liberated a generous amount of toilet paper and stuffed it into his pockets. Flushing and washing his hands followed. On his way back to the reception he nodded again towards the assistant and said: "I changed my mind. Would you mind bringing me some Scotch? Pure please, no ice, make it a double. Thank you."
before going back into the waiting room.
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1434; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
John waited only about a minute before the young Korean woman entered the room, again with a tray. On it was a tumbler of moderately expensive Scotch, neat.
As she bent at the waist to proffer the beverage, it was hard not to notice that two more buttons on her blouse had mysteriously come undone.
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John appreciated the view, but quickly focused again on the beverage. With another smile and a nod he received the glass and filled himself a double measure. He sniffed appreciatively. His olfactory boosters did their best to translate the aroma but naturally there wouldn't be any intoxication.
He waited a bit more, but slowly felt annoyed. Five minutes more and he would take another look around - this time to search for Cheryl directly.
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Wednesday, 20 November, 1438; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
At four-and-a-half minutes, Mr. Lee returned. He had another man with him. Also apparently Korean. Large. Mr. Lee introduced him as Mr. Guk. Mr. Lee sat behind the desk. Mr. Guk stood beside him. Mr. Lee smiled. Mr. Guk did not.
"Very very sorry about the wait, Mr. Preston. Naturally a transaction of this sort had to be cleared with our home office in Seoul. Our people there have prepared the projections you requested. He nodded, and a rather complex spreadsheet opened itself to John's view. There were estimates of the various costs of maintaining an adult entertainer - publicity, heatlh checks, wardrobe, insurance, security, and so forth, along with amortization figures and forecast earnings based on a popularity prediction algorithm that accounted for her physical proportions, facial characteristics, age, and various psychological measures, all quantified in black and white. The main number, which apparently included a relatively modest surcharge for the company's trouble, came to fifty-three thousand nuyen.
Once John had had a chance to look the sheet over, Mr. Lee said, "As you can see, we have done our best to keep the estimates conservative without incurring too much of a loss ourselves. I assure you, the projections are highly accurate. We have been in this business for some time, and have built up an impressive marketing database. So, once your firm releases the funds, we shall be happy to help you reunite the young woman with her loving family. Unfortunately, studio time is money, and you've caught us just at the start of the production day. As a courtesy, we can delay for, say, another fifteen minutes to allow you time to make the final arrangements."
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"No, no, that seems more than fair on your part. Really. We can finalize that agreement right away...
Oh, sorry. One more detail. Before we transfer the money, I'll have to have "Cheryl" sign a waiver. It really wouldn't do to get her out of this contract and have her sign on with another company immediately after. The patience of her parents is somewhat stretched thin as it is. Would you be so kind and fetch her? As you rightly say, time is money and neither you nor I have much to spare during business hours - especially not for the whims of capricious young ladies."
If he could have, John would have sweated. This was the pivotal moment, where the whole card house could come down.
For a moment he was even tempted to just pay the man. It would empty his account and put him in debt, but it would allow the two girls to continue their life around here. But honestly he couldn't afford that - especially not for a virtual stranger who likely couldn't repay him. He decided he'd let Cheryl make the choice...
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The man thought about it just a hair longer than John was comfortable with, but then he smiled and said, "Of course." His lips continued moving, his voice buried somewhere in his throat - not the latest system, that.
The big guy behind him moved to the foyer door, opened it a little, and said something quietly in Korean. Then he closed the door. It left him on John's flank, which the ghost-in-a-machine did not fail to notice.
Mr. Lee continued to smile vacuously, but with a hint of amusement behind his eyes.
It took a long two minutes, but finally the door connecting to the other room behind the foyer opened. There still was no more music coming from there. A gaudily dressed young Korean man came through first, bowing a girl through with a mock-cordial flourish of his arm. Cheryl shuffled through. She was wearing a lot more make-up than she had at the coffee shop or the party. And not much else. A black thong clung to one hip, the waistband on the other side torn. Her heavy mascara ran in two rivers down her brightly rouged cheeks. Her arms hugged her breasts, her head hung in shame. But she saw the seated person and said, "John?!"
And Mr. Lee said, "To me, she doesn't seem like a rich girl out to annoy mommy and daddy. But then I have seen all kinds in this business, and have given you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Preston. She is here to sign anything you need. There are thirteen minutes left before I must receive payment or she must return to work."
-
"Of course."
John smiled a hard smile at Cheryl: "Come over here, please. Just one signature and this farce will have an end."
John had stood up with his glass of Bourbon to make room for Cheryl. His shadow moved to keep him covered.
"Oh for gods sake, can someone bring her a bathrobe or something?"
At these words he turned to the man flanking him and gesticulated with his glass so that it sloshed out and splashed into the face of the man. Before the man could even blink, John had dropped the glass and pressed his open palm to the man's soaked jacket: "Oh I'm so sorry."
With those words he triggered the shock hand. The tiny electric arc flashed through the fabric, shocking the man and igniting the alcohol vapors. At the same time John had given the drone pilot the command to draw the taser from his concealed quickdraw holster and shoot at Mr. Lee: "Time to end this."
[spoiler]
We don't have to do this in combat rounds, but just for orientation, here my ini-check
Prestidigitation (http://orokos.com/roll/392985): 10d6t5 3 (To surprise the goon with a little fire, that will hopefully trigger the fire alert)
Shock Hand (http://orokos.com/roll/392987): 14d6t5 3 [14d6t5=5, 6, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 5, 3, 2, 4, 2, 3, 2]
8S(e) + Net Successes (hopefully full against surprised target)
Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/392982): 14+5d6 35[5d6=4, 6, 4, 3, 4]
Quickdraw (http://orokos.com/roll/392983): 14d6t5 4
Fire Taser (http://orokos.com/roll/392986): 14d6t5 5 [14d6t5=5, 3, 3, 5, 6, 4, 4, 4, 5, 3, 6, 2, 1, 2]
9S(e) AP 5 + Net Successes
[/spoiler]
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1440; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The big guy was quivering on the floor on fire and his boss was shaking in his chair with a comical wide-eyed gaping-fish-mouth expression before Cheryl or the third guy even knew anything was happening. The computer-controlled sprinkler system reacted more quickly than they did, but once they started getting soaked the girl started screaming and the guy ran out of the room.
-
"Quick, now." John drew Cheryl to her feat and found time to grip Lee's jacket, dragging the man from his seat. Not slowing down, he practically ripped it from the man, ripping one arm.
Still dragging the girl behind him, he shoved the garment at her: "Cover yourself up and stop screaming."
Just as they had left the room he ignored his own advice and screamed: "Fire, fire!" and dragged the girl towards the emergency exit. Once in the staircase he stopped, made sure the girl had finally covered herself up and threw her over his shoulder.
"Don't struggle, I need to time this right."
And with that he jumped over the bannister towards the other side, extended his climbing claws to break against the wall, engaged his hydraulic jacks and jumped to the other side again, this time one level deeper. All in all it took him about 12 seconds to traverse from the 14th floor to the ground level while the girl's scream continued down the shaft.
Before he opened the door to the lobby, he pressed his hand on the girls mouth: "Shh, we have to leave the building without any more fuss than absolut necessary. We'll take a taxi and bring you home. After that I suggest you leave town and get a new ID."
And with that he went into the lobby, pulling the girl behind him.
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1441; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The girl had been stunned into silence by the hair-raising descent to the lobby, but John's matter-of-fact speech about being quiet and getting a new ID brought her back to her senses.
The body he was pulling along behind him collapsed to its knees, so much dead weight. And she started screaming bloody murder.
The security staff there in the lobby took immediate notice.
As they approached, the girl, heedless of the jacket falling off her near-nude body,started adding words to her shrieks. "What the fuck are you doing? That was my chance! I'm going to be a star! How will I get any parts now? Get away from me, you've ruined my whole fucking life!"
Whether or not John had wanted to get away from her or get away with her, he now faced not only the main lobby security, burly men in uniform suit jackets and stun batons at the ready, but a team of reserve security officers - three men in armor with automatic weapons. The lead man in the suit jacket was approaching slowly, and saying, "Step away from the woman and get down on your knees while we sort this whole thing out."
Then John noticed that right outside the door was a group of four flashily dressed young Asian men, standing there and smiling in at him like they'd been waiting for him all day.
-
"You've got to be kidding me."
John ignored for the moment the security holding a finger in a wait! motion in the air, but he spoke loud enough that they could hear.
"Your friend hired me to get you out - and now you tell me, you want to be a pornstar with those slimeballs until your face is no longer fresh enough for filming? What kind of career do you think you can have after that? Call girl might be the classiest job offer you'll get then.
You decide now - otherwise I'm gone."
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1441; Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The girl looked up at John but her eyes were filled with something dark and past thinking. Her answer was to scramble away from him into the waiting arms of one of the suit-jacket security men. Their leader touched his ear, glanced at the Asian thugs congregating outside the doors, and waved his men away.
The girl was ushered off somewhere, the men in suits went back behind the counter, and the response team disappeared, leaving John standing alone in the middle of the lobby, a pack of cocky Korean gangers smiling in at him like a fish in a bowl.
-
'Un-fucking-belivable'
"Well, in that case: Cheerio and good luck with your career."
John turned to the waiting gaggle of Koreans:
"Yo, you Bozos can take a hike now. My contract's done - if you want to dance this will get really messy."
To underline this sentence, John extended the impressive looking climbing claws.
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1443; outside Red Ribbon Productions, Downtown Seattle
The extension of John's claws was answered by the half-dozen snicks and hisses of spurs popping and blades exiting sharkskin scabbards as they all took a step closer to him, six facial expressions ranging from grim fatalism to maniacal eagerness.
But a voice outside the closing circle of men shouted, "Geumandwo dagchyeo!" and they all stopped moving. Except for their faces - lips twitched and one psycho's tongue flicked in and out of his mouth, ready to fight. They made a hole and another Korean man appeared, all in black leather and studs, hair cropped close to his head.
"My uncle wants to talk to you, asshole. He told me to ask you nicely. So here I am saying get the fuck in the car."
-
"Talk eh? Doesn't know how to use a commlink, does he? Tell you what, I'll come peacefully, if you are my hostage. You ride next to me and if any of your friends gets up to any funny business I'll cut your throat - sounds fair, doesn't it?
But I understand if you don't like it. In that case we can jump over the hostage part and I'll slit your throat right here to safe us some time.
Otherwise I'll give you a commcode and he can meet me in the 'trix at his leisure."
John had retracted his claws and again smiled the unnerving lawyer smile, while he instructed his pilot to run a movement tracker on the guys commlink, so he would be able to anticipate any sudden movement of the man.
[spoiler]
In case he runs his Commlink silent:
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/397076): 8d6t5 4 [8d6t5=3, 1, 5, 6, 4, 4, 6, 5]
Target Device (EW+LOG[Data Processing]) (http://orokos.com/roll/397077): 11d6t5 2 [11d6t5=3, 1, 5, 3, 2, 2, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1]
vs. Firewall+Willpower
Probably not successfull
Try again: Target Device (EW+LOG[Data Processing]) (http://orokos.com/roll/397078): 11d6t5 5 [11d6t5=2, 4, 6, 1, 2, 5, 5, 5, 4, 6, 1]
Rules: Rigger 5 p.31
"Pick a wireless-enabled device you've spotted on the matrix. You can target that device and feed targeting data to any pilot program or person with a sensor rating or smartlink that is slaved to your device. For the rest of the combat Turn. the slaved attackers receive a dice pool bonus equal to your net hits when targeting the device you're tracking for them. Your RCC's noise reduction rating is added as a dice pool bonus for this action."
[/spoiler]
-
The young man nodded almost appreciatively. "You've got balls, Maybe that's why uncle wants to talk to you. I'll be happy to sit next to you, and if you don't like how things go, you'll be welcome to try to cut my throat?"
He turned his back on the ghost drone and got into the car. John got in after him and a burly thug got in after him, leaving John riding bitch in the back seat.
The car started moving, heading northeast toward Capital Hill. Once they were underway, the men in the car ignored him, chattering away in boisterous Korean.
-
'This is getting expensive real quick.'
With a somewhat resigned click, John downloaded another autosoft - Korean language this time.
The taser was back in his smuggling compartment but he hadn't had time to reload it. Not ideal at all. At least they didn't bother with crap like a hood to obscure his vision. While he waited for the download to complete he sent a message to Kate with a recording of Cheryl refusing to come with him:
<<Sorry, your friend did not want to be rescued. Please find attached the video and my invoice.>>
Not that he expected to see one tired cred from her - but at least she would never bother him again for help this way.
To Nachthexe he sent the whole unedited feed. There was just enough sex and violence to make it interesting for her - maybe enough to grant him a discount for her services although John didn't expect it. This was after all an object lesson why white-knighting was generally a bad idea.
But even as he understood Korean he kept his simulated tongue - instead he listened to the chatter around him for any worthwhile information.
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1511; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
The ride was not long, but long enough to hear a lot. The gutter Korean they spoke was a challenge for the chip, but since it was this week's version, it had the latest slang, so John was able to get along. They put up a macho front, but they were all apparently concerned about a series of deadly magical attacks on their organization, and more concerned by the fact that they had no idea who their foe was.
Then the car pulled up outside the imaginatively named Korean BBQ House. The door was opened from the outside, and everyone got out. The thugs made no move to enter, but motioned for John to do so, where he was met by two more Koreans - these in suits instead of street gear - who ushered him just past the threshold and requested his taser. They had a somewhat confused look on their faces, but said nothing else. Once they had the taser, they led John through a series of lattice archways that partitioned sunken dining areas, and in the back was a fat Korean man grilling a sumptuous array of fresh meats.
"Please, sit, join me," he said around a mouthful of beef and kim chee.
-
John took the indicated seat but ignored the food - naturally.
"Thank you for your kindly offer, but I have to follow a strict diet.
So I gather your organisation is under attack by a spell slinger? Bad for business and moral I'd suspect. As far as I know you have staked out quite a bit of real estate around Seattle. Must be hard to keep an eye on such a diverse portfolio. Not to mention that showing weakness of any kind would encourage rival elements to go on the offense themselves.
An independent contractor would allow you to keep your regular security in place and wouldn't attract any more attention to the attacks than they already have.
You are an important man and your time is valuable, so I won't waste it with any unnecessary chit chat: Yes, I can help you. My rates are very reasonable and no, as long as I'm paid I don't mind employing terminal solutions.
Should I know anything else?"
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1513; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
A slow smile took shape across the big Seoulpa boss's face. "I am Kim Park. I am not American and do not like getting straight to the point. But you intrigue me. There is a mystery about you. I would like to know more about you. And since you have caused me damages, time, and reputation today, I hope you will not be coy."
-
"Well, I am called Revenant, I am American and I like getting straight to the point.
There is not much mystery about me other than that I am a professional runner and trouble shooter. What I did today was meant as a personal favor to a lady - and I am genuinely sorry to have done what I did. Mostly because it was a waste of time and resources - both for me and you. But I assure you, all in all I was very gentle to your employees and your property - besides the water there should be no permanent damage. On the whole I think that security guy learned a valuable lesson about safe distances and will from now on be much better in his job.
I can't tell you much more about my resume without divulging secrets of clients and associates - and I am sure a man like you knows the value of discreetness.
I can tell you that I received my training with the MET2000, North American branch and that I've worked all around the globe for them.
Do you want to know anything else?"
John gave his look of polite interest #2
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1513; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
The smile disappeared. "I asked you not to be coy. You have been coy." He put meat into his mouth and chewed for some time. He took a long drink of beer. "I have a job for you. It is very dangerous, but I think you might be able to succeed. If you will agree to do it, I will forgive you the troubles you have caused me today. The paths you have chosen have brought you to this crossroads. Tell me now what path you choose next."
-
"THAT depends very much on the pay. If you think you can get a freeby just because I set fire to your employee, you certainly should think again if it is wise to squeeze a man who sets people on fire.
Doing a dangerous job is no problem for me, but doing it for nil very much is. It sets a bad precedent and like you I have a reputation and a life to support.
So yes, I'll do the job, but my standard rates apply.
Oh and I am not coy - you just didn't ask me anything I can answer."
John had taken a small piece of meat and sniffed it with his olfactory sensors before putting it down again with the fork
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1514; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
Eyebrows rose. "And you would be mistaken in thinking that setting a washed-up security guard-come-pornographer aflame is something that would impress me. Were it not that my mages suggest there is a some special, momentarily useful quality to you, this conversation and your life would now be over, since you choose to follow injury with insult. But since you do appear to be...unique...I will entertain the idea of paying you for your services. But such can only take place on the basis of a clean slate. How is it you propose to make amends for damaging and embarrassing an establishment under my protection?"
John was seated at the edge of small pit which housed the gas grill upon which the fat man cooked his meat. The circular grill itself was surrounded by polished wood tabletop laden with plates of meat and vegetables. They were in a semi-private area, with ornate, thin wooden latticework on all four sides, two of which also had archways to allow entrance and exit. Previously unobtrusive, the Korean mobsters bodyguards were now quite conspicuous - two at each of the archways, and another two on the other side of the other latticework partitions - a pair behind John, and a pair behind their master.
-
"I don't think your reputation is in question here - after all, your men apprehended me in front of witnesses. If anything that strengthened your position. That leaves the costs for a new rug and a suit for that washed up security guard. You can forward me the invoice and I'll take care of it.
If you are looking for a symbolic gesture of contrition - well I could wash your car or wear a tutu for you.
But if you want my respect and full cooperation, you won't try to squeeze me. Business is business - that's the only reason I came here, make no mistake. I am aware that you can threaten me with death and torture, but that won't help you solve your other problems - the least of which are the feelings of a seedy little porn producer.
My unique quality as you call it - meaning that your mages couldn't detect my aura - means I'm impervious against direct mana based spells and also hard to spy on from the astral. I can become an expert with most weapons and skills in a very short amount of time and I have a lot of endurance.
My offer to you is this: I do this job for you and afterwards you pay me a fair price based upon what my service was worth to you minus the expenses I caused you. If I am satisfied by your payment, I'll consider doing more work for you. If not... ah, never mind, let's stay optimistic here and say we'll part as friends because we both know that having capable allies is much preferable to making capable enemies."
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1514; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
The man listened, and when John was finished speaking he chewed thoughtfully. "An insoluble quandary of the human condition, the distinction of courage from naivete, of conviction from bravado. Still, what good would you be if you folded at the first threat? I will correct you on one point, and add another to your terms. These two things are related."
He took a swig of beer.
"First, the correction. My mages did detect your aura. Otherwise, we would have written you off as a mere machine and rid ourselves of you summarily. But a machine with an aura, however faint...that is a great rarity indeed. And so my additional condition. I will agree to your terms, provided you will tell me what you are and how you came to be."
-
"Huh? That's news to me.
The short version is I am a rigger that lost his meat body.
The slightly longer one: I was a professional Anthro drone rigger for the MET2000, got hit with the mojo of a crazy technomancer, lost connection to my body and ended up in an UV-Host of an AAA corp. I escaped in this nice piece of hardware.
I am technically an immortal now - whether I am an AI or a digital soul I have no idea - and it really isn't important. When my body died I did not lose consciousness, so I am perfectly confident in the fact that I am identical to the person I was before + the experiences I made since then."
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1515; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
A peculiar facial expression evolved across the big Korean's face. Appreciation. Fascination. Lust? He spoke: "Yours must be a superhuman will to live, not only that you managed to cling to this mortal coil, but that you have not given up the will to live now that you find yourself in this predicament. Lesser men would have sought the peace of the next life by now. Do you feel no sense of calamity, of loss?"
-
"I don't think so. Sure there are some things you can't do without a meat body, but on the whole it's pretty cool. After all, I can experience everything I want within the matrix just like regular folks. And there are enough people who choose to stay online without having to. I am more alive then them - better yet, I have now centuries ahead of me to perfect myself. And even if earth gets to boring I'd be in a prime position to visit Mars or the Moon.
I am not the one who has lost - it's the rest of you meat puppets who will die - sooner or later.
But until than I've still got work to do - starting with your problems. So tell me more about you and your operation. What's going on?"
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1515; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
"I am a small cog in an organization called the Komun'go. You may have heard of us. We are currently under savage attack. Many of our people have been killed. We do not know who is attacking us, or even why. We know that a great number of our attackers have been women. And that almost all the attacks have been magical. Finally, we have a small lead, a thin wisp of a lead, that might lead us to these assailants. The first two operatives we sent after this lead died suddenly and mysteriously, apparently targeted from a distance by some sort of ritualism. You, however, might fare better. As I said, dangerous. You would have to work alone, lest you be tracked astrally by your companions. But the rewards for information about our attackers would be generous. Are you interested?"
-
John nodded - the movement was a bit to exaggerated for his taste, he made a mental note to tighten the lead ring around the neck servo at his next maintenance session:
"I see. And yes I'll take this job - working solo is one of my specialties.
Could you provide me with footage from the deaths of you operatives? Ritual magic killing curses usually need a spotter to be effective.
Better yet, give me all data you collected so far. I have someone reliable who is amazing at number crunching."
-
Wednesday, 20 November, 1517; Korean BBQ House, Capital Hill, Downtown Seattle
The fat man nodded, his double chin tripling. "I will have the data compiled and sent if you will designate a secure address. But I must insist you not share with any associates or subcontractors. We are embroiled in a delicate information-sharing controversy ourselves, so our intelligence must be kept within an extraordinarily tight circle for the time being. But you are already on the right track, I am impressed. Here, let me show you."
An AR display appeared between the two men. It split into quadrants. Each quadrant showed a grisly and very public death: immolation, dismemberment, melting, and...inside-out-turning. Throngs of onlookers stared aghast at each. The Korean flicked a finger and red circles appeared around the faces of four different women, one in each of the crowds.
"We have number crunchers of our own, I assure you."
The backgrounds disappeared, leaving just the four women. Two humans, an elf, an ork. There was no resemblance in terms of hair color or attire, but when the AR image overlaid the four images and the facial recognition software pointed out the key markers, it became clear that all were the same woman.
"We cannot identify her in any database. The two operatives that were tracking her previously each met their grisly ends just as they were about to report on her movements. However, we were able to retrieve some data from devices recovered from their corpses. Much was corrupted along with the destruction of their bodies, but we have pieced together enough to know that this woman has at times frequented three locations. All verdant spaces in public parks. The exact coordinates, one each in Snohomish, on Council Island, and in Fort Lewis, will accompany the data I send. We have no indication of the frequency or timing of her visits to these places. As of about twelve hours ago, we set up drone surveillance on all three locations, which we can patch you into with certain limits to your access. And of course we are doing our best to access public surveillance all over the metroplex with a tie-in to facial recognition applications. But so far we have found nothing."
He closed the display.
"As I said, thin. Our best successes have been with human operatives, but they all died. While our automated efforts have turned up nothing. I am therefore hoping you, with your unique nature, can somehow bridge the gap. Finally, I remind you of something I said earlier: information about our attackers would be rewarded generously. The death of this one would glean us nothing, and I fear her capture would alert her handlers to change their plans. If you acquire this target, learn what you can without direct action."
-
"I see. Observe but not interfere. I can do that. Hm - probably no ritual magic then. More like a powerful sorceress or someone with a very powerful spirit at their call - possession or channeling. The gruesome nature is a weak indicator for blood magic - especially the inside out turning.
Combined with a strong detection spell to recognize interest or malevolence towards her it would have been relatively easy to pick out her tails.
Regular appearance at those locals indicates either some kind of racket or other profit scheme that needs personal appearances to keep the marks in line or she is shadowing someone herself.
That's all speculation of course - I'll go and have a look at those locations.
There, I've sent you the account number of a matrix post box you can use to contact me and where the life feeds from the drones can be directed.
If there is nothing else, I'll take my leave now. I need to recharge and do some maintenance before I start this job. I'll contact you as soon as I find anything.
If you can get me a visa I'll start on Council Island since this is the smallest of the three areas. Otherwise I'll tackle Snohomish first, starting with the murder site and make my way outwards in a spiral until I find something."
John looked at the Korean with a quizzical (no.4) look.
-
"All you need will be provided. Now go."
John shrugged and left. The offer of a ride he ignored, but before he left he winked at the nephew and grinned: " Sleep tight, see you later."
And with that vaguely threatening/creepy greeting he started to jog away, gradually speeding up until he was just fast enough to impress joggers but not fast enough to create a scene.
While he left the steering to the drone pilot he began to read through the material.
It wasn't much. Nothing indicated why the Koreans had been attacked, nothing hinted how the situation had come to the point that people had been turned to goo and inside out.
The connection to parks and reservations indicated that this mage had something to do with nature or natural based magic. Geomancers, Druids, Voodoo and dozen other types of practices were viable culprits.
John noticed that his body had started to cut through back alleys, automatically jumping over walls, using the climbing claws where needed, crossing busy streets and generally taking the directest possible route to his home. With a mental command he slowed his movement down a little. Once done he concentrated again on the files
Ok, two weeks ago the first hit - no name given, just that it was a member of the organization. Great, that was as helpful as a nail through your kneecap. From the images he could at least lern that all victims had been male between 25 and 35 years old, somewhat fit and armed.
He again stopped reading, this time to send a text: <<Hiho Nachthexe. I'm still alive... ish. The Koreans hired me to do a job for them - everything hush hush. I'll tell you about it when I know what's going on. Until than I'll be out and about for a while, so no four hour raids at MDK for the foreseeable time. Have a good night.>>
At least the timing of the mystery killer lady was somewhat consistent. The visa the Koreans could provide wasn't much use to John - biometric data was hard to come by for him. So Snohomish it would be.
He reached the backyard of his small house. He seldom went inside - most of his time he just spend in the garage, sitting in his car and getting his drone recharged while he went into realignment - or sleep as a human would call it. Funny, sometimes when he awoke he actually could remember fragments of a dream - or maybe that was just a glitch from stuffing his experiences into long-time storage.
Whatever it was, he had to start now if he wanted to do his maintenance tomorrow and be ready to drive into the rural wilds...
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Somewhere in a field in Snohomish county
A slight drizzle had set in as John finished the second circuit of his route. So far he had seen many cute woodland critters, a few farming drones going about their business and a whole lot of dirt. He was glad his chassis was a real amphibious model, so a high pressure hose would be all it took to get him clean again. After a few minutes sitting in the car to top up his batteries, he went out to start his third circuit...
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish county
John's circuit around the grid coordinates included a mix of farmland, pasture, and woods. The forested area was dense. A search would be a major project, and time spent within the copse would be time without the rest of the grid, which was largely open, in sight.
As such, John had decided to balance the task by making his way through sequential swathes of the woodland, hoping to cover it all reasonably well in six passes.
But it was on this the third pass that he found the clearing.
Surrounded by dense foliage, he was lucky he spotted it at all.
Looking in from the outside, all he saw was an open circle. There was no sign of machine or tool work, nor of twigs cut, branches sheared, stones removed, or grasses pulled. Yet the circle - about five meters' diameter of bare earth - was perfectly round. Looking up through ten meters of tree growth, not even a single limb or leaf dared stray across the clearing's circumference.
In the center were stones piled loosely to form a waist-high mound with a flat, level surface.
-
John's recording function had subconsciously activated while he made a slow walk around the circle, recording it from every possible angle.
'Well, well, what do we have here. Seems like someone created an altar." He setting foot into the circle just yet. He'd need to download a compendium on magic theory, once he was outside this matrix zero-zone. For now he could only speculate. 'Could be Druids. Those guys can control plant spirits. I wonder if I'd find blood on the surface of the altar.'
But before he entered the circle he looked closely for any signs of footprints indicating a larger group using this site - as a ritual circle for example.
When he had done that, he moved close to the mound, trying to leave as little traces as possible.
When he was on top of it, he engaged the olfactory booster senors to sample the surface.
[spoiler]
Electronic Warfare (Perception) (http://orokos.com/roll/404928): 12d6t5 4 [12d6t5=4, 6, 1, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 5, 2, 1, 2]
Sneak (Manover) (http://orokos.com/roll/404929): 15d6t5 4 [15d6t5=4, 1, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 6, 2, 1, 2, 6, 6, 5, 3]
Olfactory booster (http://orokos.com/roll/404930): 15d6t5 3 [15d6t5=4, 6, 2, 3, 6, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 3, 1, 3, 5, 2]
[/spoiler]
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish county
Sensors sweeping for any sign of other presences, all he picked up was birdsong and wind. And although no tracker, the bare ground within the circle was smooth enough that it was clear there were no great crowds passing through.
Within the circle things were quiet, and as he approached the stone table he realized he could no longer hear the birds. Had they stopped singing, or was it just very distant now?
The rocks at the center were bare, however, and bore not scent of blood, just various herbs.
What was that voice saying?
He checked his auditory sensors - they registered absolutely nothing.
So why was he hearing a voice? Not really hearing. Feeling?
It was just clear enough that he was almost sure that maybe it wasn't his imagination.
He ran diagnostics on his sensors. No red flags.
If there were words to it he couldn't make them out.
Then it was quiet. He was standing alone in the center of the perfect woodland circle beside a pile of carefully placed rocks.
-
'Shit. Either there are gremlins about or I might be not as impervious to magic as I thought. Well at least it's not blood magic - small consolation if you are confronted with "turn you inside out" spell slingers.'
Despite this sobering thought, John fished out of his bag two small sensor tags he had procured before this trip and placed the one with the microphone in a small crack in the altar stones.
The other one with the camera he placed in a tree outside the circle. He made sure not to disturb the vegetation too much, checked the feeds on both to make sure he got everything that happened inside the circle and then used a piece of cloth to erase his own tracks far enough so they wouldn't stand out.
That done he deactivated the wireless on the two sensors. They would record for 24 hours, so he'd have to fetch the data manually before it got over written. 'Let's see what's going on here. Probably Hippie shit of the finest caliber.'
[spoiler]
John has the Pilot of his Drone on overwatch for any surprises
Electronic Warfare Drone Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/405888): 14d6t5 6 [14d6t5=5, 4, 6, 3, 1, 3, 1, 5, 4, 5, 4, 2, 6, 6]
[/spoiler]
With that, John began to walk back towards the car. Load the batteries and maybe get the realignment sorted out early. Yeah that sounded like a good way to spend the rest of the daylight...
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish
John had scarcely left the confines of the clearing when he was confronted by an elm tree.
An elm tree with two distinct eyes, a small twig for a nose, and an old knot for a mouth. Its myriand limbs gesticulated as it spoke aloud.
"Who is it that disturbs the sacred grove? Are you a supplicant, or a doer of mischiefs?"
-
'Really? A fucking Ent?'
John had stopped and was completely frozen for the half second he needed to form a response.
"I did not intent to disturb anything and I certainly didn't do any mischief. Who are you that you claim the right to confront me"
With a certain trepidation John went mentally through his available arsenal: Climbing claws - sharp enough to damage but probably not very effective against an awakened tree or manifested spirit, Shock Gloves - probably little effect against dry bark, but might work against a spirit, Taser - likewise.
Best option: Engage Jump Jacks and outrun opponent - come back with a flame thrower.
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish
"I derive my authority from ancient lines far beyond your mortal..." and then in mid-sentence the creature struck, branches striking out at John's arms and legs.
At the exact same moment, his sensors suddenly picked up sound and movement directly behind him, although he had detected no approach.
-
[spoiler]Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/406225): 14+5d6 31
-10 Ini: Full Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/406226): 19d6t5 5 [19d6t5=4, 1, 4, 6, 6, 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 2, 4, 2, 1, 3, 1, 5]
-5 Ini Disengage Maneuver + Pilot (http://orokos.com/roll/406229): 14d6t5 4
Jump: Maneuver + Pilot (Jump) +Rigger Control (http://orokos.com/roll/406230): 15d6t5 6 [15d6t5=6, 3, 6, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4, 4, 4, 5]
=> Jump 3m high and a few meters to the side
[/spoiler]
John had expected an attack - but not before the talk was done. Sneaky Ent. Luckily his Jump Jacks were already at full capacity and it only took a flicker of attention to engage them. The result wasn't unlike a startled cat: John jumped three meters high and to the left. His claws where already extended, but in this case there was no ceiling he could cling to. So instead he crashed into the brush, while he also tried to get a focus on the second attacker. A message plopped out into his field of view: "REMEMBER - they don't want a fight they want information. Don't do anything stupid!"
Annoyed he thought his own message to him away. Now was not the time and also it wasn't as if he had attacked anyone. This was clearly a case of self defense. Finally the combat program had loaded and John crouched with extended claws, ready to counter attack or dodge away.
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish
Even as John prepared himself to meet the two - yes it was two - ents, the very grasses and twigs surrounding him began to reach out for his arms and ankles, twisting, catching, entangling, trapping. As he instinctively moved away he found that they could not hold him completely, but he was slowed to a snail's pace.
The charging ent, however, was not, and even as John tore away from the clinging brambles it reached out strong branches with lightning speed, holding his limbs, neck, and torso fast. And as it's grip tightened, it sang, a low, sonorous dirge well befitting its appearance:
Still your squirming tin man
Break you like a twig I can
My aim though is not distress
But to ensure a chat with my mistress.
Silly song or not, the second ent was now coming up to join its friend, branches outstretched...
-
"Set. Me. Down.
Or this wood will be turned into a poisoned wasteland. Do you think I came unprepared here? A crop sprayer drone is circling above us, loaded with good old Agent Orange and a healthy side of methyl mercury.
Every living thing in about a 100m radius will die a slow, agonizing death - including your fucking bitch of a conjurer.
Ah, you know what, why wait. I just sent the command. It will start to rain in about 15 seconds if I don't rescind the order."
[spoiler]
I'm not happy being grabbed/subdued without a defense roll - John's chassis may be slowed but it's not immobile
For the sake of drama let's continue with the cut scene - I'll resist the urge to set everything on fire ::)
Con w/edge (http://orokos.com/roll/409333): 8d6t5 4 [8d6t5=4, 6, 6, 6, 2, 6, 4, 4]
[/spoiler]
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish
The approaching tree, the one that had first spoken to John, stopped, a look of grave concern on its wooden visage. "My mistress begs you not to do this thing. I retreat. Come brother, let us release him that the saplings may fulfill the measure of their creation."
But even as that one's anthropomorphic features began to blend back into the surrounding flora, the one holding John replied with a mournful tone. "It cannot be, sister, for my own mistress does not release me." And then it spoke to his captive. "I am commanded to ensure your destruction if you do this thing, an additional service to which I am not obligated but nonetheless personally disposed."
-
"I'm more than willing to wait here for your mistress and have a talk with her, but I am not an animal to be captured and displayed.
You may be able to destroy my body, but that won't kill me. It might take me a while to get one as nice as this again. But time is no big thing to the ageless. If you challenge me I won't go eye for an eye - I'll take your hole face and that of your loved ones.
All you have to threaten me is a chunk of hardware - very expensive but ultimately replaceable. The same can't be said for this pristine natural place.
Tick Tock - I've still 6 seconds to call of the drone..."
-
Thursday, 21 November, 0911; Small wooded area in a field in Snohomish
"Very well," the spirit intoned as coarse wooden limbs unwound themselves from around the trunk and appendages of John's chassis, "But attempt no treachery, defiler. This place and you are watched, and the reach of the watchers is long indeed. She that would speak with you will be here very soon. No more than a few hours, I should think. I go now to soothe the fears your threats have caused." And with that the very form and figure of the spirit became one with the surrounding flora.
-
"Yeah, you do that Woody. And if soon is a few hours from now, you probably don't mind if I wait in my car. I'm very curious about the person who thinks attacking someone will somehow make them inclined to be sympathetic to her cause."
John took the moment of respite to make a quick self diagnosis. Everything seemed to be ok. Mentally he noted to get himself a crop sprayer drone.
-
Thursday, 21 November, 1122; A field in Snohomish
John did indeed wait two hours. And change. Then his car was rocked gently by a sudden gust of wind, which was odd since the tall grasses in the distance were motionless. Looking around he saw a woman putting towards him on a tiny Dodge Scoot. It was silent, one of the painfully slow all-electric models.
She pulled up and got off, standing a few feet from the car. The vehicle rocked gently again - clearly he was being reminded she was not alone. And then the point was puntuated as the earth beneath her feet coalesced around her into a great behemoth of soil and rock that enfolded her in a protective embrace.
She was dressed like a hippy - all loose natural fiber clothes and hand-woven accessories around her wrists. She was petite, maybe five-foot-five. Her hair was white and her face was so beautiful that the stripes of red smeared roughly but symetrically on her forehead, cheeks and chin did not detract. The color of her hair was matched by two white horns spiralling up from her crown, and also by the small owl that fluttered down onto her shoulder. It was graced by the same red markings she was.
-
John got out of his car and stretched - equally for effect as well as to make sure all his cyber limbs were working correctly.
"Good morning. So tell me, why exactly should I not inform the cops that there is a crazy mage threatening harmless wanderers?
And please cut the bullshit. I've been waiting for over two hours. What the fuck do you think you are getting out of threatening me?
If you hadn't set your pet trees on me I'd have gone away and likely never returned."
-
Thursday, 21 November, 1122; A field in Snohomish
"Oh no, seriously? I am really sorry. It's just that I thought you were sent after me by the Seoulpas, sooo..." She shrugged. "But since you're just a harmless wanderer out for a hike, well, I'm really sorry to have bothered you. Feel free to come hang out in my sacred grove anytime, though!"
-
"Now, I never said that I was this harmless wanderer. But likewise I'm not a "defiler" or necessarily your enemy.
I have a professional interest from stopping any further escalations between you and this Mafia - mainly because I not so recently tried to save a young lady not unlike yourself from the Korean adult industry. As a direct result of this illadviced chivalry I find myself now assaulted by you.
I'd have hoped you would be a bit more civilized than the Koreans and actually explain what's going on here."
John had taken a seat on the hood of his car, keeping a - hopefully - calm smile on his face.
-
Thursday, 21 November, 1122; A field in Snohomish
The girl reached up and stroked her owl's chest. Her demeanor relaxed a bit, but the earth spirit's did not. It's scowl at John appeared carved in stone.
"Trust me, mechanical guy, any womyn caught up in the exploitation industry is nothing like me, but right on for helping her out. The rest of your tale is tedious, though. Paint drying. I really shouldn't even be here, because if the Korean-Americans are tracking you, they'll be coming at a run. But after seeing your aura I couldn't resist a peek. We thought you were a drone at first, but before we decided what to do about it, we got a better look at you. And then your conversation with our friends confirmed it. So. like, do you have emotions? How about, like, personal values?"
-
"Gosh. Yeah, one of my primary emotions right now is annoyance for you dodging my questions. I am human - I just had a nasty accident and now need a full body prosthesis. You should visit one of those sensitivity classes for the workplace on how to approach the subject of disabilities.
Regarding Values:
I have friends, I enjoy things - not necessarily the baser desires - you need glands and other messy organics for that - and I happen to be all in all in favor of solving situations peacefully. Sure, my stance towards the sanctity of life has changed with me having died and then gotten better, but all in all I prefer not having to murder my way through my problems, since that creates only more problems of the same kind in the long run. Which incidentally is something you and your friends should take to heart.
So to clarify and restate my earlier question: What. The fuck. Is going on here between you and the Koreans?"
-
Thursday, 21 November, 1122; A field in Snohomish
"Well...." she was watching him intently, but her gaze was somehow unfocused. "If your primary motivation is not creating more problems, then me talking about my thing with the Korean-Americans will not be your thing. Too bad. I've been getting a lot of Wizard of Oz imagery when tripping lately, so I thought maybe you were the one I was supposed to find. But maybe I should just start looking for a Cowardly Lion or a flying monkey. Anyway, can't very well tell you anything if you're just going to run back an report to them."
-
"Yeah, sure. Because me telling them something they already know is what they have been waiting for.
And you should listen to what I'm actually saying: I don't care about creating problems - I care about stopping further escalations.
As far as I know, you or at least one of your friends murdered a bunch of people who at the time weren't giving you reason nor excuse to use lethal force.
I don't know how you justify that and I don't particular care from a moral perspective. It just looks needlessly wasteful. How do you expect to impose your will if you don't tell anyone what you want in the first place?"
John had reclined a bit more in his car seat. Talking to stoned hippies was annoying, but it beat fighting against magic trees...
-
"Typical male. Never seeing...what?" She turned and looked at empty space next to her. "I'm not....Seriously?....Him?....No no no. Are you joking with me right now?....He'll just....No, mistress.....Yes, mistress....Yes, mistress."
She turned back to John. One corner of her mouth was twisted into a pensive pout. A cool breeze sent her hair waving in counterpoise to the ripples in the grasses around them. She started to speak twice, but no sound came out either time. Finally, she swallowed and asked, "Our problem...part of our problem... is that your Korean-American friends are kidnapping children and selling them as sex toys and food. Pretty much of a bummer all around. The sort of a crime only a patriarchally heirarchical organization could commit, since no womyn would be a part of it. My mistress, whom I obey even when I don't agree with her..." her sidelong glance confirmed to John that this mistress was, at least in the horned girl's eyes, still present. "...she thinks you'll help us...take them from your friends."
-
'Shit, astral projecting, manifested support. I'll need to cruise through a toxic zone to get rid of any trackers.'
"You've got to be kidding me, right? I mean, sure human trafficking sounds like something those guys do, but food? Do they cater for Ghouls and Wendigos?
I'll ignore your gender centric delusions for the moment, but I'd ask you to keep those comments to a minimum, for the sake of a civil conversation. Otherwise I'd be forced to call you a fucking hypocrite.
And just to be clear: We are talking about kids, age 14 and below, who are against their will in this situation? I have to ask, because it was that kind of overblown statement that brought me into this mess in the first place.
And now tell me the other reason - the one you don't write on your propaganda pamphlets, or whatever you use. Human trafficking of minors is nothing the Koreans have a monopoly on. There has to be a reason you are targeting them specifically. Did they abduct someone from your ranks? Are you after some spiritual valuable piece of real estate?
And don't tell me there isn't. Sooner or later its always about money and power - especially with you mage types.
-
The druid's white face turned pink, bordering on red, and she started, "You know, I think it's very telling that even though you've lost..." and then her body shifted, almost as if she'd been physically shoved. Another annoyed sidelong glance and she took a deep breath. She moderated her tone, but the anger was clear in her eyes.
"Yes, there is a higher agenda. There is absolutely no way I can tell you what that is at this point. If you help us, though, we lay it all out for you. We want you to help us rescue about a hundred kids. And while that's not our only goal, it's a real one - just for itself, nothing else. Yeah, they're all young, all unwilling. Their buyers will rape them, torture them, or eat them. No ghouls though. Ghouls don't have money. Help us get them out. Help us help them. It'll mean going against the Korean-Americans...Please." Her eyes softened in sincerity. "Please. There are so few we can call upon. You can't know how few. And your capabilities. We need you."
-
"Fair enough if you can't reveal your agenda, but I want to know how you know about those kids and how reliable those infos are. That includes the data itself: Where are they being held, when are they to be sold and where do you intend to bring them. Finally, why aren't you cooperating with KE on that count? Despite everything else, KE likes to do raids that increase their public image. And child abuse as well as cannibalism is the last big taboo our society has. No way they would ignore that - especially if you have proof you could sell to the media. Or did you just not think about that angle of attack?
I'm not unsympathetic to the fate of those kids. But I mistrust you and your little club.
You want my help? You'll pay me. Standard fee. Back stab me and you can be sure I'll retaliate.
Since I am currently tasked with finding out about you, I offer you the chance to plant whatever false information you want the Koreans to have. If it's juicy enough they might let slip other information, that might help us to rescue those kids."
-
Thursday, 21 November, 1124; A field in Snohomish
The woman stroked the arm of her earthen protector and whispered, "Thank you sweetie, but I think I'm alright now. Go and join your friends to make sure we're not observed." She looked into its muddy eyes and it seemed to John that some further communication was shared, included a pointed look from her to him and back to it. Then it sank back into the earth from which it had arisen.
"Well, I'm kinda glad you don't trust me, ya know, cuz I don't trust you either. But my mistress does, and that's all that counts, really. Money doesn't have to be an issue, just send your invoice and credit transfer to my 'link here. Some of your other questions are harder, but I'll do what i`can to fill you in."
She stroked her owl's chest and considered her words carefully. We know about the operation because it's been going on for months. But they're very good at keeping it quiet, and we've never been able to stop the transactions from taking place. We merely, um, observe them in the past. It's a magic thing, you wouldn't understand. Not something that can be recorded, and we wouldn't if we could. It's not even something that any one of us has access to - our information gathering is, um, disseminated. So we know it is happening the way we know the sky is blue. Take it or leave it."
She started playing with her commlink as she talked. "We still don't know where the current lot of them are being held, or even if they're in the 'plex yet. We do know that this batch all comes from the CAS. We think they harvest from all over the place so as not to attract too much attention, but that Seattle is where they've got a buyer - the Japanese-American criminals - they have access to the sort of wealthy clientele the Korean-Americans don't. So this is where the transactions take place. We do have feelers out with the pigs, but we have to tread very lightly. Part of the reason is that we think some high-level people are being paid off. We are working with some of pawns on an individual basis to access their resources though. So as you can see, we don't have anything we can really take to the screamsheets. And just sharing what we do know would tip our hand."
She took a breath, kept playing with her commlink with one hand, and pulled what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette from a pocket. "Sorry, man, this whole thing really stresses me out." She lit up and sucked deeply. "Okay, we don't know yet exactly when the next buy will be, but it should be soon. We do know that it will be at one of two locations. We have recruited some other people that are down with the cause - you'll need to work with them. They know what the two locations are. I don't - we're very compartmentalized, ya know, like cells and all that. Sort of. I don't even know where the others are - people have been trying to kill them and they've gone to ground. But you start heading back to civilization, I'll send you meet details once I get them. And good idea about lying to the Korean-Americans. We'll be in touch on that, too. Can I get your commcode, man?"
-
"You got it. But don't take to long - I'll have to report in tonight and I need to doctor my recordings accordingly."
If he was honest, this was actually not bad. Working with other runners, getting actually paid and having a reason to stick it to those Koreans. But John didn't entertain for a second the illusion that those hippies were really that altruistic. Furthermore the vagueness of their intelligence gathering method would make it a necessity to conduct investigations of his own. Nachthexe at the very least would have something to laugh - for months most likely.
"Vaia con dios, or whatever other deity you prefer."
John started his car and began to drive back into Seattle proper.
-
It took a while to get back to his home. He visited the harbor, crossed over into the barrens, visited Glow City to finally return to his garage. He felt drained - his body needed maintenance and he himself needed realignment - AI sleep. He debated with himself for a while before he finally called Nachthexe for an update:
<<Hi, it's me.>>
<<John, how are you? You've been out of signal range for a very long time. Any luck on the job?>>
<<I wouldn't call it luck, but I meat one of those mages and even managed to talk to them without violence and only a selective number of threats.>>
<<So what did you talk about?>>
<<I asked why they are killing Koreans, they told me a load of bullshit and that they were fighting them because of their human trafficking.>>
<<Let me guess, you immediately offered to help them, little white knight.>>
<<Hey, I resent that remark. But yes, they ask me to help them stop selling children as sex slaves and food supply. They want me to work with some other runners on that.>>
<<Hm, won't you have some tiny conflict of interest with your current employers? I don't think they'd take lightly to such disloyalty.>>
<<Bah, fuck them. They hardly gave me a chance to say no. I'll report back to them and try to find out what I can about that deal. I should mention that those hippie mages are actually paying me, so they have that going for them over the Koreans.>>
<<So what are you going to do then?>>
<<Wait and see. And after that maybe shoot some Koreans or hippie mages, depending on who gets on my nerves more.>>
<<With that attitude you should start to save up for a replacement body.>>
<<I'm already on it...>>