[gilga]

Gau says Taco Temple He shruggs "You need a professional mage to know that you are not getting ripped of by the seller, you need Ginsburg. No offense Jawsi, but you are too green for that task

[Tecumseh]

<<Let's find out who's muscling in on this deal. We might be able to relieve them of their 15K. And negotiate some extras, like product. I doubt we're going to get a car out of him but maybe score us some rat tails or some magic flutes or whatever it is you finger-wigglers use to bake people's brains from a distance. Get him to upgrade your gear.>>

Mato looks over Ginsburg. Human, male, pretty old, he had a weathered look to him. Old could mean slow, or it could mean "good enough to survive a long time at a young man's game." Or it could mean that he had been prison a long time. After all, if Ginsburg was really good enough to survive in the shadows into his 50s then he should be scoring bigger paydays than this.

[Lorebane24]

Ginsburg meets Mato's gaze "Sorry, have I got something in my teeth?"  He flashes a beige grin.  "Call me Ginsburg.  No need for the Mr.  I suppose the long and short of it is I lie at people, I sling my mojo around, and I'm a fair hand at assenssing.  Just don't ask me to throw down with a spirit - never really got the hang of astral combat.  But if you need something checked out in the Astral, especially an object, I'm your guy.  Ever hear of psychometry?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato nods, "Yeah, yeah, that was the scale that Horizon developed to measure the psychopathic tendencies of their P2.0 members, right? I guess it's P2.1 now.

"So, what, did you score really well? Does that mean you're a complete psycho or not-at-all psycho?"

If Ginsburg has a P2.1 account then maybe he's better off that Mato suspects. Maybe he's old because he was one of those shadowrunners who scored el gordo - the Big One - and then sat on their couch ensconced in pornographic BTLs until the money ran out.

[Lorebane24]

"In fact, psychopathy is not a recognized disorder by any psychiatric body - it's more of an umbrella term for a variety of personality disorders, and any with at least one foot in the Shadows probably has a few of those.  I'm a at least a couple notches shy of clinical narcissism if that makes you feel any better."

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby had paid only minor interest to the other runner - mage, nothing he could do about him that would further their agenda, so he nodded politely.
Instead he turned to the racist old fuck who was interested to give them money:
"So, say, this card is valuable. Your seller wouldn't happen to be Mr. Liu?"
Bobby watches closely Gao's face as he drops the name. For Bobby it's too much of a coincident that two of those artifacts should be in the neighborhood.

[gilga]

Gao responds You know your way around the neighborhood, I am impressed. He replies "I believe that the seller is a shadowrunner, probably stole it from somewhere. I also think that it is a different card. You know how it is, one collector acquires a strange card, and the next day all the other collectors want one as well.

[Jack_Spade]

"Can't say I'm happy with a commission of just 2000. Especially considering, that there is a lot of risk around for us: The last time we encountered some pretty violent people who were after this card. Can't imagine that they have given up. Not to mention that we are holding the bag when this all goes down while you sit safe in your shop. Maybe you could sweeten the pot a bit with some of your product. I could use some reagents and two of my colleagues are certainly also in the market for talismonger goods."
Bobby grinned predatory, showing a disconcerting amount of teeth.

[gilga]

Gao grins back at Bobby Do I need to spell it out for you?  Think about it for a moment, you get 15k in advance, and 10k more for finishing the job. I believe that this is sufficient pay for the requested service. What more do you want from me?

I agreed to give up all my profit from this deal, worse than that I am lending you 15k that you may lose.
Instead of simply backing off from the deal, I am giving you an opening to make some good money in a very short time. Yes, this is dangerous but what other job gives you an opportunity to make over 6k in two hours?
Do you really ask to rob my shop in addition to getting all the revenue from a deal that took me a month to orchestrate when you only do the last few hours?!

Gao is a good actor, he is not angry - but shows just the right amount of aggression to not blow things up, and make it more difficult to change the terms of the contract. Jawsi and Ginsburg can know that this is simply the way the man bargains.

Negotiation: 12d6t5 3

[Beta]

"Now, now, Gao, you are getting a bit excited by all of these big numbers, I think.  That 15k is for buying the card, and for your sake, that is what we'll do."

"Sure, the 'orc and the bear' could maybe steal the card, but think how that plays out.  If we show up at the meet as your representatives and then steal the card, the blame lands on you.  If we go the meet and just rob him without mentioning you, you will be blamed for not having a team there that might have bought it from him first or protected him.  If we rob him before the meet, he'll wonder how anyone knew that he had the card AND that he was about to sell it, and his suspicion will land on you.  No, the only way that we get the card AND your name stays intact, is to pay your seller."

"Besides which," he adds piously, "we are are private investigators and protection specialists, not a bunch of criminal shadowrunners who commit crimes for hire.  And THAT is why you trust us to sell the card to your customer, rather than keeping the card for ourselves or selling it to the highest bidder.  If you hire pure criminals, you could have both seller and buyer angry at you."

"Now, if you are saying that after we sell to your customer, that we don't need to worry ourselves about paying you back the original 15k, then that is a different matter."

[gilga]

Gao answered "Don't rob the buyer... dammit!  Rob the asshole that is strongarming me and is going to show up to the meeting pretending to be my representative. If he plays dirty to me, why should I play nice in return?
You really have little choice there. Imagine what happens if both of you show at the same time at Taco temple,
do you trust a ganger to be civilized about it? Do you imagine an auction? The man might open fire at you in a middle of a public place killing all sort of innocent people. Criminals...

He curses and continues Lay low, watch the meeting, trail the buyer into some place where you can rob him without killing innocents. You have many options, not all of them are violent, you have a mage, a trog, the shapechanging bear and a face. A good team, anyhow you acquire that card from the buyer. Leave me with some deniability, I don't mind him suspecting it was me, but don't advertise. You sell it you get 25k this is your wage.

Now, I am loaning you the 15k because what would you do if the fragger does not show up, or show up late? In that case, you may need to buy the card for yourself. So here is the 15k to do so, but if you just bought the card and took it to the other part of town to sell it - nobody molested you you did not have to do detective work... In that case, you made 2.5k each for a simple delivery job. Hardly worth complaining.

 It is a reasonable job, the only reason I can afford you is because the stupid fuck cannot reschedule the meeting, he'll show up to the meeting I intended to show. He does not know who the seller is. Before we continue, is everything clear?