The silence drags on for a bit as the words already spoken hang in the air. This is a weighty moment, and what is said here can either save them, or get them killed. Ohanzee is tempted to cash out, sign on to some stable job with Ares and not have to think quite so much about the big things. But that was the problem - he couldn't just let someone else make the big decisions for him. He suspected that most shadowrunners didn't choose the life for such lofty reasons - they were likely little more than petty criminals looking to make a buck. But the big names inspired others because they fought the iron grip of the corporations. They didn't think that what the corps decided was what was best for them, or for anybody else except the corps. He fancied that he was that kind of runner - he had the skills to make good money as a wage slave, but he couldn't hand the reins over to some mega.
Of course, looking at the company he kept and what he knew of their pasts, it was much more likely that he didn't take the cushy job because they wouldn't have him - he was probably wanted by the law in every place he had ever been, whether they had ID'd him or not. It was for both of these reasons that considering any relationship with Ares after the deal was done was a bad idea. If he was the idealist he hoped, it would never work. And if he was the criminal he feared he was, they'd discover his past and he'd pay for the crimes of a man he no longer was.
The deal had to end with cash, and possibly information. Any sustained physical proximity to Ares or any of the other organizations as part of the deal was out until each of them could be sure of their friends and enemies and what parts of their past might come back to haunt them.
So, take the payday. That left two choices. Dump it for a fraction of its worth on some unknown talismonger, or dump it for a fraction of its worth at some high stakes meet full of unknowns. Either of those options risked party crashers. Was there safety in numbers? If four different organizations were represented, would they deter each other from trying anything?
Hell, going back to the talismonger idea, they cold just drop it on a fixer for nothing more than the value of its mundane components. That appealed to the dwarf - it was unpredictable. Any one aware of the artifact probably had every talismonger under surveillance of some sort, going on the assumption that they would look for one to dump it at. They would probably never suspect that they'd just offload it as a mundane item.
But who? Would Styles have enough weight to afford such an item and even be interested in taking it considering the obvious heat? Ohanzee had promised him a souvenir, after all. Or would Sam's contact be a bigger fish? Assuming they didn't want Sam dead just on principle, they might have the resources to work with an item of this value.
Baby steps. Let's figure out who to sell to later, but start by seeing if everyone can agree to sell through an intermediary.
"I'd rather sell the artifact for what we can get for it and then make ourselves scarce. I think that staying together is the smart move, safety in numbers and all, but that's only a suggestion. For all I know - for all most of us know - we are wanted by the law, or any number of corporations. We might walk in the front doors of some Ares office to start our new life there only to find that they've been looking for us for some crime we committed years ago. I don't want to live like a fugitive, but until I know for sure that I'm not, it seems the smart play."
He looked around to make sure everyone was at least paying attention. "I'm thinking that as far as selling it, we basically ignore its magical nature. Sell it as valuable metals to whatever fixer we can find that will move it. Get a million nuyen or so off of them and be done with it. After we've got the money, we can let them know it comes with some baggage in the form of some bad people hunting it down. Quite frankly, I'm not all that concerned with who ends up with it. So far as I know, no one wants to out and out destroy it or turn it into a bomb. Right now, short of falling on someone, the scariest thing it does is urn you into a drooling vegetable if you happen to read the magical lettering on it that only a small fraction of very learned people in the world can do anyway. Turning that into a weapon would require sending your enemy to school for months so that they can learn some long forgotten language and then somehow tricking or forcing them to read the inscriptions. Even considering our circumstances where we accidentally triggered it to a lesser effect, it still requires proximity to the device such that it would be significantly easier to just shoot a person."
"If some crazy cultists want to shove it in their secret underground lair and surround it with incense and candles so they can chant at it all day, more power to them. The world's lived without it for over 5000 years, it won't miss it if it disappears into someone's basement for a few more. If it turns out to be some device for summoning evil spirits via some ritual sacrifice or other end of the world drek like that, then they'll have enough other, better equipped, organizations breathing down their neck. After its sold, we can send a dossier on it to whatever organizations we want - or to the world at large, let everyone know it exists. Once it loses its secrecy, it's much harder for some drekheads to cause serious damage with it."
"To that end, Sam's contact seems like they might have some serious pull. If that bridge isn't hopelessly burned, I say we give them a call. Otherwise, I can see what Styles is willing to do. He's small potatoes though. This might be more than he can afford, and more than he wants to take on. Everyone we approach will be doing the same basic math as we are - is the profit worth the risk?"
"So, next step? Once we're done recuperating here, I say we find someplace to bury the thing while we look for buyers. Leave a couple of us to sit on it if we feel its exposed, but the rest of us can make calls or head into Denver to look for buyers. Really, it's just a matter of finding a place to lay low while we find a buyer. If we can find out more about us or our guests" he indicates the nanites by pointing to his head where the bulk of them are congregating, according to Doc's analysis, "while we're keeping a low profile, all the better."