[Señor T]

Cal nods to Calico and stands. "I'll be with John then."

He grabs his duffel bag and heads out to the bathroom, emerging a couple of minutes later dressed in black fatigues, carrying his assault rifle. His serious demeanor belied his relief to be out of his suit and back in fatigues. For the first time on this mission he felt right. Sure, rationally, he hoped that nothing would happen on this trip out. But if something did go wrong, he'd sure as frag know what to do.

He felt the cool metal against his hands as he held the gun and waited for John to lead the way.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monique is waiting to lead the others to the elevator when Cal comes out of the bathroom.  She quietly moves to his side and whispers, "Please.  The cameras in the hallway will alert the security here about the gun and get lots of people excited, including the elevator attendant.  Can you please leave it in the duffel bag until you get to the car?"

[Stoneglobe]

"Earlybird, as you're bringing your whirlybird here is there any chance you can swing it over the target area for some imaging first? As Calico has said, once we have some more information from on site we can decide on our final approach choices. I'm still hopeful that we can resolve this without the need for threats or violence.

I do have another idea of how we could make the approach. These guys are known for specialising in certain types of cases. The good lady Marisart might well be an ideal client for them. I could approach them as another PI whom Lady Marisart has contacted concerning the actions of her current paramour. Given that this particular type of case isn't really my area I could recommend them in return for a finders fee. This would probably give us the opportunity to ensure that they are in their office and therefore available for us to talk to when we arrive.

If our initial scan of the area suggests that anything looks hinky we can always abandon that approach and all it really costs us is a phone call."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya looks amused.  "That could be a good idea, John.  Use my name if it will help get us in the door.  If they are any good at all, they will do a name search and there is a lot about me out there.  I really do try to fit into the social circuit and lots of people know me.  Earlybird and I will be airborne, but you can let me know if I need to make an appearance."

[Stoneglobe]

Giving Tanya a grin, "Sometimes it's not what your skill set can bring, it's just what you can. Anyone have any thoughts to add on this suggestion or any other matter?"

[trv123]

"I like it. I wasn't super enthused about the direct approach.  Coming in off the street like we do, they would have no real reason to talk to us.  This way we can get in, feel them out a bit and figure out a way to broach the subject. I'll be your niece, wanting to learn more about the investigator racket, maybe looking for an intern gig or something.  Like I said, we'll feel it out."

Arriving at John's car, Calico quietly summons a modest air spirit. As she senses it coalescing in the astral, she mentally issues instructions. ~Thank you for answering my call, friend. I'd like to ask for your help checking out an address. I need to know what, if any, magical presences are there. Spirits, wards, sustained spells, background count, mages, the works.  I will point out the building when we arrive. As soon as we do, I need you to head in and see what you can see. Can you do that for me?~ she asks the spirit.


[spoiler]Summon F4 spirit of air: 7d6t5 4
F4 spirit resists: 4d6t5 2
Drain: 15d6t5 5
[/spoiler]

[Stoneglobe]

"Let's just be careful not to overly complicate things. If no one has any objections I'll call them to arrange a meeting now. If they agree to that it would probably be best if once Tanya's finished playing with Earlybird that she be available for the meeting. I would suggest that the rest of us head over to scope out the scene in the meantime."

[Jayde Moon]

John calls in to arrange a meeting with the receptionist, because it seems they have a receptionist.  John thinks she sounds blonde, with hints of strawberry.  These are the sort of noir-esque things John thinks about when he's on the case.  You know, 'Dames.'

"Uh, yes, sir.  They are in right now.  They don't have any appointments for this afternoon.  It's urgent?  For a Tanya Marisart?  Uh... they-- I... OK, yes, I'll check with them..."

John waits several moments before she comes back.

"Yes, they ay they will see you.  Half an hour sound alright?  They will be out of the office after that.  Yes?  Alright, we'll see you then."

With that she hangs up.

It doesn't take the full half hour to get there, but the team is cutting it close.  The air elemental whips into the building and reports a few moments later.

No one is downstairs.  Three on the second floor, one is awakened but not strong.  2 on the third floor.  No one on the fourth floor.  No one is on the roof.

Calico is a le to surmise that there are four floors, the roof, and no basement and the spirit awaits its next instruction.

[skulldixon]

Kumiho comes back to himself as he slips out of the comfort of the matrix. Seeing that the team is ready to move out again, he puts his gear away and sets out to follow on his Bike.

Since john is current lead, I'll check on their commlink once we get close. I'll also try to pull some card history from them once I have a mark on it, they might have been called by someone in the triad - and if so the number would be in there.

[trv123]

Calico passes the short car ride in relative silence, deflecting any chitchat with short, definitive answers.  Gone is her playful, bouncy personality. She seems more intent, yet somehow less concerned.  She seems lost in thought.

~Can you describe the Awakened one?~  she mentally asks her spirit.

[Jayde Moon]

"He is more or less as strong as me... I did not see that he had anything magic on him... or her, I suppose.  They were bored.  That's all really.  I hope that is helpful."

And with the second service used, the spirit returns to the spirit realm.

[Señor T]

Cal gives Calico a single nod, then slips the gun back into the duffel, zips it, then slings it over his shoulder.

As he heads out to the car with the group, he eyes the corners of the halls and entryways, noting the cameras as he sees them. This is going to be a whole lot different than the fraggin' jungle. he thinks to himself. He really ought to have thought of that. Surveillance everywhere... physical, virtual and magical, and it's going to be a whole lot more sophisticated than what he was used to.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya leaves the roof edge and leads her companion to stand near the pad marked with a large 2 and puts her bag down.  Looking at Earlybird, she says, "And now we wait."

She leaves her equipment in the bag until the Wasp lands so that it does not get blown over the side of the building.  Once the craft is on the pad, Tanya waits for the rotors to stop moving before going over and kneeling to look at the bottom of the helicopter.  Realizing that she cannot see enough, she goes to her back and slides under the machine.  After a few minutes she crawls back out and opens the bag.  She winks at Early bird and begins hooking one of her ropes to the underside of the Wasp with clamps and D-rings.  Once she is satisfied, she straps on a climbing harness and fastens the second rope to the underside of the helicopter, coiling it carefully so that she can descend freely when she releases her body from the frame of ropes.  She looks at Earlybird and says, "You ready to give this a try?  I have about 200 feet of rope I can descend from when we are ready, so when we get to where we are going to test this out, try to be within a couple of hundred feet of the ground.  Let's do this."

With a smile, Tanya climbs under the Wasp and clips herself to the frame then tells Earlybird that she is set to go.

[trv123]

As they pull up to the investigators' office, Calico turns to John. "Let's head in. I don't think Tanya's going to make it in time...  we barely made it ourselves. But I don't think that's a big problem. Her name got us in the door, which is what we needed. As I see it, we have two options here: one, directly ask them why they were at the robbery and what they saw, or two, proceed with a second subterfuge. But honestly, now that we're in the door I don't see the benefit of option two. You have more experience at this sort of thing than me, so maybe you have a different perspective, but I just don't see how it helps us. Either way I can assist you in questioning them, both conventionally and magically.

As she and John exit the car, she motions for Cal to hang tight where he is. "You should probably stay in the car." she tells him. "I feel like your presence would only serve to make them… " she eyes Cal's hard exterior, built for delivering pain, "nervous." She pauses a moment before continuing. "Let us know if anything unexpected or alarming happens out here. We'll keep the line open so you can listen in."

[skulldixon]

Kumiho parks his bike a little away from where the others have parked, But within eye sight of the building and the front entrance. While still straddling his parked bike, he switches his deck on and begins to scan the area in AR - looking for the seen and unseen elements about.
I'm in position, I'll be hacking their comm when your ready.

[spoiler]
Matrix Perception: 9d6h5 3
[/spoiler]