[griffalo]

Henry browsed through the selection at the cramped W H Smith booth. He had always been impressed that in an age of AR, smart paper and wireless information, the stationer-cum-newsagent had survived mainly through selling at transport hubs like this one - a curious combination of bagged sweets, eye-watering pornography and trashy novels on cheap paper. All quaint anachronisms in their own way, part of the charm of the store itself. He purchased a bag of sherbert lemons and headed towards the pub.

Ordinarily he liked to be a minute or two late to an event - it gave the impression he had a more hectic social calendar. But when meeting with Mister Johnson it always paid to scope out even a familiar locale. There was always the possibility that today was the setup for some transgression repaid, either real or imagined. Popping a yellow-striped sweet in his mouth, he pushed open the doors of the Dog and Duck to take a look around.

[Csjarrat]

Heading down the side street with your sweet in your mouth, you head out of the sunny plaza and into the shade of the buildings.
Pushing the heavy wooden door open, you're greeted by a neo-victorian style pub. AR icons flicker over the beer taps and a holoprojector is showing the last few minutes of the Leeds game at the far end. the pub is probably half full, a few day trippers occupy the main tables in the middle of the room, tucking into their sunday roasts. The booths along the long wall opposite the bar are half full, some young lads sat drinking with their mates.
The bar is relatively quiet, two youngish looking women in fairly expensive looking clothes wait for service as the Barman heads downstairs to change the barrel over.
No-one noticeably reacts to your entrance

[Csjarrat]

____Taejix____
The ticket barriers wing open just in time to let you through at full pelt, checking the station's AR directions for your platform. Heading to platform 21, a sleek looking intercity train awaits, its cooling system creating a whining noise as you thunder down the steps off the overpass over the tracks.
The last few people are boarding and the conductor waits patiently to signal the train off as you board with them.
You find your seat as the train pulls away smoothly, its electric motor purring gently as it gets up to speed.
Looking out the window, the world races past you as you face away from the direction of travel.
The shiny and new high rise financial area partially blocks out the view of the castle, it wouldn't be long before the new Renraku arcology neared it's second phase of construction and eclipsed it from view for good. They'd already flattened a decent portion of the old town in preparation, much to the chagrin of the local residents and tourist board alike.
Money made money though, and the job creation benefits were deemed to outweigh the loss to tourism.
You were shaken from your revery by the arrival of the refreshments trolley. It wasn't long before you supped on a soycaf and relaxed, listening to your tunes on your commlink's earbuds

[freerunner]

relieved that there hadn't been a problem with his sin, gryphon took the opportunity to relax on the train. it was good to see a bit of greenery but it brought back memories of the times spent outdoors, hunting nuisance spirits, good times for the most part but memory was like that, it favoured the good stuff over the menial shit, he reminded himself.

he was glad finally to get to his destination, he disembarked and headed straight to the dog and duck hoping to check out the place and it's clientele in preparation for the meet. he was pretty good at spotting potential trouble. prepare for the worst and hope for the best he mentally sounded one of the codes he lived by as he opened the door to the dog and duck.

[Csjarrat]

The train pulls into Manchester with a gentle purr of its powerful electric motors, coming to rest on one of the newer platforms.
You had about 10 minutes to make the meet, your GPS telling you it would only take a couple of minutes on foot.
Slinging your kit bag over your shoulder, you pick up a brisk pace, pushing through the crowd of daytrippers and shoppers and swinging a left after the exit from the busy concourse.
The GPS on your commlink directed you across the central plaza, busy and full of life and down a side street towards the dog and duck.
Picking up the side street you see that Henry had obviously beaten you to it, you could see him at the bottom of the street, about to enter the pub.

[freerunner]

seeing Henry enter the d+d, gryphon picked up the pace, he could maybe learn more from the the pubs clientele if he got there in time to see their reaction to Henry. in any case, if there were any problems, he wanted to be there to have Henrys back.

[Csjarrat]

___All____
You all stream into the pub, either within seconds of oneanother or minutes.
Henry had beaten you to the bar, having laid claim to a table with no daytrippers adjacent to overhear the anticipated job offer.
The barman comes back from changing the barrel, tops up the lasses pint and then turns to you;
Sorry lads, who's first?

[griffalo]

He flashes his usual cheery smile, his accent changing gears flawlessly into something a lot more Macunian. "Gin and lime for me please, and whatever these reprobates are havin'." He gestured to his fellow runners as he was quizzed for his order. "'ave one yourself while you're at it."

[Csjarrat]

The barman flashed his eyebrows in appreciation, setting to work on knocking up a gin + lime.
The holo-projector in the corner caught your attention, Leeds had just scored and the commentators were making a big song and dance out of it. The daytrippers seem not to notice though and continue to amuse themselves with their food and drinks.
A well heeled man walks through the door, a small wheely suitcase in tow and subtly checks the room's occupants out as he makes his way over to the bar.
He walks with purpose towards your group, having caught Flash's eye in recognition.
A polite nod is given to the others as he sidles up to the bar.
'Scuse me barkeep; Add a pint of sunbeam to that order. {turns to face henry} So, we got a table? I can't stop long, my connection is in about 30 minutes.

[Taejix]

"Another gin for me mate" Roundabout adds after a moment. He's not really in the mood for a drink, but no sense in standing out.

He switches over to AR as he joins Henry at the table, giving the johnson the once over. No sense in not doing his due diligence after all, and Henry'll keep the bloke talking.

Matrix Perception
11d6.hits(5)=6

Well, that's a nice roll. I even have a high enough limit to keep all the hits.

[Csjarrat]

___taejix____
Running your AR over the well dressed man reveals little; standard Commlink/earbuds/contacts set up. Your port scanner identifies his defences as excellent, clearly an extremely expensive Commlink to run his pan (ooc rating 7 firewall)
his broadcasting SiN identifies him as "John Smith", as likely a fake as you were going to get!

[Taejix]

'That about figures' he thinks to himself.

<<Message to Flash Henry>>\\Nothing identifiable on him, but his security is pricy. I can crack his commlink and have a poke around, maybe get him set up for tracking for that just-in-case. Might not be worth the risk if he's got a good word backing him. Your call.//

[freerunner]

"mines a half of your finest." gryphon added with a smile.

time to see what he's got to say for himself he thought as he joined Henry and gave the Johnson a thorough inspection.

perception roll

<a href="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4549852/">10d6.hits(5)=4</a>l. 

10d6.hits(5)=4

[Csjarrat]

The Johnson looked like any you'd worked with before; clean shaven, conservative haircut, expensive suit. His wheels case was the only thing that stood out though, normally johnsons had their own chauffeur and team, so travelling alone was a new one on you.
He seemed fairly at ease, more like this was a low pressure or social visit.
He took his pint and took a hearty glug, following behind you as you made your way over to the table with your drinks in hand, kitbag slung over your shoulders.

[Csjarrat]

You all took your seat around the table as Henry squared up the bill, joining you a minute later.
The Johnson began to speak;
Thanks for coming at such short notice. I've got a new client onboard who's looking for a team that can be trusted, that are reliable and don't bring the heat down on themselves.
This job is a milk run, keep out of trouble and you'll get more of em
Pay is 3k a head with a 500 bonus each if its done by 06:00 on Tuesday. Interested?