Working the shadows is a strange creature, it is a bit like having monkey on your back. Even when you are flush and the work is coming in, you are always thinking about what comes next, where is the next job coming from and is your rep is as secure as it needs to be? Will any of this matter if I catch a bullet tonight? These are thoughts rolling, at varying degrees, through the minds of each of the runners that just had a New Beginning.
On the low end, one of their number could really care less. His personal life and quests being more than enough to occupy a technomancer’s mind. With his latest sweeps failing to bear fruit, he returns awareness to the meat with the vaguely burnt smelling shotgun-shaped paperweight beginning to overcome the other questionable odors of his flop, and realizes he needs to stay alive if he is going to be any use to anyone.
At the other end of the spectrum, another is about to explode into a million pieces if he doesn’t get a job soon. He done every maintenance check he can on his gear, and with the Fists lying low he hasn’t pulled a trigger on a live round in DAYS, two to be exact, even Zen isn’t scratching the itch.
Somewhere between these extremes, the more stable individuals have managed to keep things in perspective. It would seem the effort of maintaining a balance is rewarded, as Samantha Delavine receives a call from a friend in LA.
Melissa Firebird seems strangely excited, “I found you a JOB!” she says, and as Sammy tries to explain again she is not doing any acting projects now, Melissa shushes her and continues in an urgent whisper, “NO! A SHADOW JOB!”
Melissa explains that there is a guy she knows named Slade that is in Seattle and he needs some locals to handle some business that might get a little rough. “Get your crew and meet the guy at a place called the Gray Line for a meet at 5. “ Her friend seems a little giddy about the ‘shadowtalk’ she is using. “OOO! Does this mean I’m a Ms Jamison or a whatchacallit... ‘tinkerer’?”