Shadowrun: Everybody Lies - [Team Red] Back in Business

[SalmonMax]

Caesar nodded. None of that was news to him, his own legwork had turned up much the same information. "Well, no complaints about somebody working for the betterment of orkish-kind." He studied the remains of his drink before swigging it down, "To answer your question, yes, I am concerned. It's normal in my limited experience to expect trouble, but this seems above and beyond to me. It has me suspecting that this job will be more dangerous than most." He shrugged, "I've no urgent desire to field test the effectiveness of my armor, so I consider this worrying." He gave her a smile, that would have won over even the more skeptical of people, flashing a dazzling array of perfectly straight and white teeth, oversize canines and all."

Valkyrie's face betrayed nothing of worry, nor any sign of melting from his supernova smile. Her eyes slipped away from his though; maybe a little worried? Or maybe just distracted by the stage.

"The circumstances of this do seem unusual. MacAllister has a reputation for being unorthodox in his outlook though. Once we know more about the mission, we will have the option of refusing it...though someone with his influence would be a valuable asset. We will just have to work together to manage the risks effectively."

There was another of her pauses, where it seemed like she ought to say something more, but she didn't. Then just before Caesar tried to revive the conversation she said, "The team you've listed is interesting in what it implies about the mission objectives. He expects trouble, as you point out, but he also has the three major points of data retrieval covered...digital, astral, and social. The presence of a medic is incongruous. Injuries sustained to the point that a medic is necessary usually put the injured party out of action anyway....and employers at that point seem more likely to leave them to their own devices and DocWagon contracts."

"There's a possibility that the inclusion of a medic is not for us, but for someone else."

[Caesar]

"I hadn't considered that," Caesar said. He seemed lost in though, mulling over the idea silently for a moment. "If true that would imply that this mission will be one to recover a person, unless our medic's training covers critters, animals, or ... other?" He looks around at the other tables, giving only momentary glances to those nearby where he believes the other four runners have already sat down. The medic seems young, but that means little in terms of training. He turns back to Valkyrie, "We appear to have reached the limits of supposition that our forehand knowledge will allow us to achieve."

[The Hospitaler]

Ace walks back to her booth, looking like she was a bit more relived. She grabbed a water from the bar before heading to her seat outright and sits back down.

"Sorry about that."

She smiled as she started watching the band again.

[SalmonMax]

Valkyrie shrugged. It was just a game anyway, at this point. Something to keep the mind occupied until MacAllister appeared and made his pitch. Still, she had to grudgingly give Caesar some credit. He didn't seem nearly as thick-skulled as most of his metatype, or even as most of humanity in general. That made him easier to work with, but also a little more potentially dangerous.

Still, this wasn't a career for the faint of heart, whether taken by choice or necessity.

And he wasn't a physical threat, unless he was crammed full of biological mods. It seemed unlikely, but could not be completely discounted.

Since talk of the mission was apparently over, she found herself wondering what he'd want to talk about next, if anything.

[Joani]

Emerald Cacophony finishes their set and exits to a smattering of applause. A tall man in his late 40s with a lined face, dark hair, and goatee wearing an immaculately tailored suit gets up on the stage. He smiles out over the crowd.

He holds up his hands to quiet the crowd down and says “Alright you brain damaged re-wired mutants! Here’s the reason you’ve been sweating all over our nice, clean floors all evening. Ladies and Gentleman – if there are any out there – and the rest of you trash as well, I present you the one, the only, MARIA MERCURIAL!!!”

The crowd goes wild as the lights dim and then everything goes quiet as the first haunting synthesized notes of Mercurial’s hit song “Take It To Mister” swell up from the speakers. A spotlight comes on, illuminating a slender, lovely figure wearing as short dress of midnight blue. Her legs and arms gleam with polished chrome from her trademark cyberlegs and arms. Her voice is as lovely as ever, and the first lines of the song wash over you.

TAKE IT TO MISTER

Once, long ago, when troubles came your way

You couldn’t take them on yourself.

But you knew just what to do,

To find somone who would help.

When they burn out the farm,

Or ravish your sister,

You put your hat in your hand

And take it to Mister,

Take it to Mister.

Then, as they will, all these things changed their way.

The ones who guarded you proved false.

The lord, the patron, the grand seigneur,

Helped themselves and no one else.

So they ravished the land

And whored with your sister,

They made you rip out your pride

And take it to Mister.

Now, we have learned there is another way.

To face the future for ourselves,

We all know what we must do.

If you want to take back what they stole

Feed the rage in your heart

Till it’s ready to blister.

Now put your gun in your hand

and TAKE IT TO MISTER!

Mercurial plays a two hour show before wrapping up. Several up and coming bands go on after her, but it’s clear that a lot of the patrons consider the concert over. A waitress comes up and offers to escort you down and into the backstage area.

SCENE 2: DIRTY DEED DONE DIRT CHEAP

The waitress leads you into the backstage area, past a couple of large and obviously chromed bodyguards who stand guard. Near the ceiling you see a small Japanese boy floating and translucent, obviously a manifested spirit of some kind. Security is tight, but that’s not surprising considering the superstar attendance. Down the hall you can see MacCallister talking with Mercurial. He smiles and nods to her, then heads towards your group.

“Hoi Chummers!” He calls out. “This way please.” He motions to a door to your right. Inside is a small room with a table and a handful of chairs around it. It’s a tight squeeze, but you manage to get the entire group inside and sit down. Once the door is closed the roar of the music and crowd cuts off thanks to soundproof walls.

MacCallister is an older Ork, appearing to be in his late 40s. He’s wearing an old, well worn, and oft-patched armored leather jacket, a faded Mercurial t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Strapped to his left arm is something that looks like a keyboard, a 2050s era cyberdeck, the precursor to the commlink. He doesn’t look much like your average fixer, but rather looks like a tough old shadowrunner. MacCallister peppers his speech with 2050s era street slang.

Once you are all settled down he gets down to business. “I need you to find someone who’s gone missing. I don’t have much intel but here’s what I got. Her name is Fiona Craig and she’s an archeologist who just arrived in Seattle last night on a flight from Greece. She doesn’t live in Seattle, and she vanished, missing a couple of meetings she was supposed to have today. I want her found ASAP and brought back.If you are game I offer you 3k each.” He raises and eyebrow and waits expectantly for the runners.

[SalmonMax]

"Why are you expecting this to turn violent?" Valkyrie asked bluntly. "Caesar, myself and the shaman would be sufficient if this was a simple trace and follow mission."

[Joani]

"Why are you expecting this to turn violent?" Valkyrie asked bluntly. "Caesar, myself and the shaman would be sufficient if this was a simple trace and follow mission."

MacCallister gives the petite Asian woman a toothy grin before he answers "You should always expect violence, ain't I right? But truth be told, I just gave out word I was looking for some runners, I didn't cherrypick you, your fixers did that or whomever established your connection with me. Nothing is ever simple, china."

[SalmonMax]

"You had no influence over team composition?" Valkyrie confirms, surprised. That raised questions of its own, but its answers would not be found here...she put them aside for now. "I see. All right then."

"My search will benefit from the following: A full itinerary for the missing person, including flight information for her arrival as well as her destination once here. The name and contact information for whoever reported her missing, as well whoever she was meeting here, if different. Anything you cannot provide I will find in the course of my inquiries, but since this information is typically public I find I can save myself time to devote to more difficult subjects if I simply ask up front. In addition, I need to know if Knight Errant or any other legal enforcement corporation has an open casefile on this, as their methods can interfere with mine."

The spiel had a certain rehearsed sound to it, as if she'd said it often enough that she didn't really have to think about it anymore. This despite the fact she was still a relative newcomer on the runner scene.

[Caesar]

The show was entertaining, nothing more or less. The music wasn't his scene, but it wasn't old time country either. After the show a young woman came over and asked them to follow her. She gathered the occupants of two other tables nearby confirming in the process that they were the other portential runners. Caesar sized them up and quickly matched them to the profiles he had. It was early in the evening and early in the negotiations, so he waived judgement just yet. He only hoped that they proved as apparently capable as Valkyrie had. The meeting began with a quick round of introductions, street names only, and then the Johnson got right to it; no wasted time.

Once you are all settled down he gets down to business. “I need you to find someone who’s gone missing. I don’t have much intel but here’s what I got. Her name is Fiona Craig and she’s an archeologist who just arrived in Seattle last night on a flight from Greece. She doesn’t live in Seattle, and she vanished, missing a couple of meetings she was supposed to have today. I want her found ASAP and brought back.If you are game I offer you 3k each.” He raises and eyebrow and waits expectantly for the runners.

Caesar's eyes narrowed and a predatory gleam came into them. He was suspicious of certain aspects of the Johnson's answer to Valkyrie's question, but there was more important matters to discuss first; like nuyen. "Before I start asking my own questions, before I even accept, there is the matter of payment. You offered three thousand nuyen, which is generous if this turns out to be easy, but it could quickly become rather stingy if things take a turn for the worse. I'd like to counter offer for five thousand flat, with an additional five thousand for hazard pay should this turn out for the worst."

"Sorry chummer, I think not. Three thousand is more than enough. You and the rest are all new to the shadows, and the creds you get are only part of the take for this. You all need street cred and to do that you need to work to get it. Word of mouth is its own payment, am I right?" Caesar and he sparred words back and forth, but it was clear that this round went to the ork with more experience. The other man seemed impatient, he was worried about the timing of this job it seemed. Finally Caesar nodded his assent, if not his agreement to the job. "Get this done and I may have other work, or information, as well, so really, I'm almost over paying you lot. So? Are you in?"

Caesar took a deep breath, the man made his points well, and haggled like a pro, no surprise he was a fixer now. "Fine, I'm in too. We'll need to know whatever you can tell us about why she was in town, her business here, what corps she was meeting with, and who might want to make her disappear, for whatever reason. Whatever you can send our way will obviously help speed the process along, and since time seems to be of the essence ..." He didn't finish that statement, there was no need.

Negotiations

[jameson] 3:25 pm: CHA 6 + Negotiation 5 + First Impression 2 + Glamour 3 = 16 dice

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 6+5+6+2+3+2+4+1+3+2+1+2+2+2+3+2: 46

[jameson] 3:26 pm: 3 hits ... wow that sucked

[Joani] 3:30 pm: let me roll MacCallister then

Joani *rolls* 10d6: 5+2+2+2+5+5+3+4+3+5: 36

[Joani] 3:32 pm: that's 4

[jameson] 3:32 pm: curses

[Joani] 3:32 pm: or with other words - The Computer says "no"

[jameson] 3:32 pm: so no extra dough for us then

[Joani] 3:32 pm: nope

[Jeremy]

Maria had been a great act, and Jian had certainly enjoyed the experience. Now, he was here with the Johnson meet, observing the fellow runners and listening to the spiel and questions put out in the conversation. He'd given a nod of acknowledgment when he saw Grimm, since they might just be working together once again. Behind an expressionless mask honed by years with the Red Dragon Triad, he considered and pondered.

It was clear that the team had most of the roles put together for them, by these fixers or what not, surprisingly. One shaman, him and Grimm, the petite Asian women whose words and requests and prior knowledge suggested hacker or technomancer. The ogre of all things sounded damn persuasive, which was a rarity. And the Ace girl was nowhere to be found. So five now, to find an archeologist missing.

3k was certainly an okay wage, but this definitely sounded like it could get quite violent then. McAllister was holding his ground here certainly. Then again, he went back a long way in the shadow community. Could it be that this was a friend or someone he had a personal investment in seeing safe? It could explain the half-hints at potential violence and the fully fleshed team. IF that was the case, and that was a big if, McAllister probably wasn't taking any chances. Perhaps he wasn't, even without a personal interest.

The rescuee in question? Archeologists covered a wide range of subjects, but being an adept, Jian knew that artifacts from ancient history could be of wiz importance even if they weren't inherently Awakened items. Many worldly powers would stand to gain by extracting the woman hence. But to narrow it down... "I'm in. To add to that list, what's her specialty of expertise?"

[Joani]

"You had no influence over team composition?" Valkyrie confirms, surprised. That raised questions of its own, but its answers would not be found here...she put them aside for now. "I see. All right then."

"My search will benefit from the following: A full itinerary for the missing person, including flight information for her arrival as well as her destination once here. The name and contact information for whoever reported her missing, as well whoever she was meeting here, if different. Anything you cannot provide I will find in the course of my inquiries, but since this information is typically public I find I can save myself time to devote to more difficult subjects if I simply ask up front. In addition, I need to know if Knight Errant or any other legal enforcement corporation has an open casefile on this, as their methods can interfere with mine."

The spiel had a certain rehearsed sound to it, as if she'd said it often enough that she didn't really have to think about it anymore. This despite the fact she was still a relative newcomer on the runner scene.

MacCallister sighed briefly trying to keep part of his impatience at check. He wasn't really much in the mood for small talk or questions he couldn't answer but these kids were new faces and he had a soft spot for starters - he remembered his first days too well and would've appreciated a helping hand back then. "Listen, if I had access to that information I would've hired a bunch of Muscle and get her out of wherever she is myself. You know, what I know. If you're only half worth of the money I'm paying you should find a clue about her whereabouts by tracking her name alone. Since all this drek happened today and I was already... engaged with the concert I had little time to gather more intel. You have to do this the hard way, chummers."

The rescuee in question? Archeologists covered a wide range of subjects, but being an adept, Jian knew that artifacts from ancient history could be of wiz importance even if they weren't inherently Awakened items. Many worldly powers would stand to gain by extracting the woman hence. But to narrow it down... "I'm in. To add to that list, what's her specialty of expertise?"

MacCallister's mood took a turn for the worse, "Do I look like a fragging Professor to you. She's an archeologist, a dirtdigger or whatever fancy rides her. It doesn't matter - she's disappeared, I want her back."

[SalmonMax]

Valkyrie wasn't perturbed by his hostility. "I explained why I asked," she said. "A little time now can save a lot of time later."

"In any event, if you have nothing further to offer or add, then our business is concluded. You will be contacted as soon as we have concrete information."

[Jeremy]

Jian thrust a sudden glance at the others who hadn't spoken. "Certainly not until those are aren't in say they aren't. And I don't think we who said yes appointed a leader." More than a little warning of sarcasm flickered in his voice. If this girl wanted to be a domineering type, she'd have trouble here. These are people, not code.

[SalmonMax]

"Anyone who wants out can just leave. They don't need to ask permission," she replies. "Similarly, our new employer has made his position clear. If anyone wants to stay and argue with him, they are welcome to."

"Meanwhile, I would like to begin earning my fee."

[Mr. Grimm]

Cael sat impassively throughout the concert, giving no hit as to whether he enjoyed the entertainment or not. When it was over he quietly followed the others into the meeting room. He took careful note of those who came, recognizing Jian from a previous job, and those who didn't.

Grimm listened to the pitch and to the questions and concerns of his fellow runners. He acknowledged Jian's nod with a slight nod of his own, brushed a strand of metallic silver hair out of his eyes, and quietly spoke. "I accept the job."

With that, Grimm lapsed back into silence.

[Caesar]

Caesar cleared his throat, "Ladies. Gentlemen. I think what we need now is to come together, as a group, if not as a team, and work toward the common goal we now have; that of finding Ms. Craig." He nodded to Imiri, "That is of course assuming that you wish to join us. A shaman will come in handy regardless of the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, of course, so I do hope you decide to stay."

He waited for her reply before continuing. "OK, the team seems set, and for the time being I think the most useful task will be one of research. We need to find out who this woman is, what business brought her to town, and what might have happened to her. Last known locations, and such as well. I'd suggest we work together on this as best we can, the money is the same regardless of the timing so the faster we act the better from a standpoint of pure credits over time. If Valkyrie can start tracking down the digital footprints of Ms. Craig, Imiri the arcane, we can get a better idea of how to proceed. Other suggestions?"

Leadership

[jameson] 8:01 pm: CHA 6 + Leadership 4 + First Impression 2 + Glamour 3 = 15 dice

jameson *rolls* 15d6: 6+4+5+3+4+4+1+6+4+2+5+4+3+1+5: 57

[jameson] 8:01 pm: 5 hits?

[Long6] 8:03 pm: yup

[Imiri]

Imiri had almost spoken up several times, but stopped herself as each of the other runners involved asked questions of their own, mostly questions that she herself would have wanted answers too, and inwardly she shrugged slightly, if that was the way of it, so be it. "I'm in" She responded to the question about taking the job. There was one question, however that it didn't seem anyone had asked yet, but that she thought might be useful. "So, where was this Fiona Craig last seen before she disappeared?"

[Caesar]

Caesar nods, five of them then, a good sized group with a good smattering of skills; they lacked only a dedicated rigger for certain. He sized up the Johnson as being a little agitated, impatient really, to see that the job get done in a timely fashion, but there was nothing to suggest that there were ulterior motives at work. Caesar judged that the target must be special in some way, either a business partner, though the lack of detailed information from him said no in that regard, or possibly a friend of a friend or some such. Two or more degrees of separation might instill this kind of concern while removing any useful knowledge, and Caesar didn't think he was holding anything back like some Johnsons had a habit of doing. He thought of the smug little dwarf he'd worked for previously and how each meeting between them would make the verbal positional play between himself and Valkyrie earlier seem like a reunion between lovers by comparison; that little man brought paranoia and obfuscation to new levels.

"I think we've got everything that my fellow ork knows on the matter at this point. Further questions are going to be ours to answer with legwork of the literal and figurative kind." He turned to Valkyrie, "How quickly can you get into her personal datatrail and give us a place to start?"

Judge Intentions

[jameson] 9:08 am: I want to see is Mac is keeping anything from us or trying to hide some ulterior motive, would that be a Con roll or Perception?

[Joani] 9:08 am: hehe, alright, make your roll then

[jameson] 9:13 am: So Intuition 4 + Charisma 6 = 10 dice

[Joani] 9:16 am: and you get a +1 Bonus

[jameson] 9:16 am: ok, so +5 more for First impression and Glamour

[jameson] 9:16 am: grand total of 16 dice

[Joani] 9:16 am: MacCallister is very pro Ork/Ogre so it's easier for you to deal with him

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 4+2+4+5+4+1+1+6+2+5+5+5+6+5+2+1: 58

[jameson] 9:16 am: 7 hits

[jameson] 9:17 am: vs his Willpower + CHA

[Joani] 9:17 am: I don't need to roll - he is not lying or hiding anything. If anything at all, he is a bit edgy and wants to get this done ASAP. He's not really happy with his options but he gotta take what he gets.

[jameson] 9:18 am: hmm

[jameson] 9:18 am: ok

[Joani] 9:18 am: my roll for reference

Joani *rolls* 10d6: 1+2+5+3+4+5+5+3+3+5: 36

[Joani] 9:18 am: 4 hits

[Joani] 9:18 am: you net 3 sux - my info stands

[jameson] 9:18 am: ok

[SalmonMax]

"Her public data? Minutes at most. Then I'll have to breach security for the airport to gain access to the archived security camera footage and datatrail logs for her activity there. Hours for that. From there, it depends on the leads. Cab companies, rental cars, identifying anyone she interacted with...any or all of those may come up. I estimate by this time tomorrow, I should be able to reconstruct her movements at least until she vanished...possibly beyond, depending on the competence level of whoever vanished her."

[Caesar]

"OK, but I don't think waiting until tomorrow to really get started is good idea. Unless you all object I suggest we head to the airport and start there. Valkyrie, if you can tell me what flight she came in on and get my a photo I'll ply the folks at the airport for what they remember. Hopefully if we can put her in a specific place Imiri can get a fix on her astral, umm, stuff, and maybe use the for a tracking spell or something. Gimm and Jian can help out with the legwork as they are able. I don't think it would be wise to split up into group just yet, not until we have a better idea of what we are up against; if a major corp disappeared this woman we could find ourselves in need of backup." Caesar nodded to Mac, "We'll be in touch, but for now just make sure to call if you get any additional information we could use." He made sure the man had his contact information, and the other four runners likewise and then did his best to herd them out of Mac's office and toward the airport.

[Jeremy]

"Sounds fine." Jian acknowledged, supposing getting going would ease a little of the tension here by just getting to work. "I can search the Matrix decently, and I have a good program." He also volunteered, as they exited the office. "I think Valkyrie should handle the the airport itself, as you're the only one I think who can handle that anyway. I and anyone else who feels up to it can look up the public information."

[SalmonMax]

"Her picture will be easy, but her airline information isn't public...this is why I asked MacAllister for it," Valkyrie grumps. "Since he didn't get the information from someone with legitimate access, I'll have to find it in the airport data. At least an hour, maybe two. And we shouldn't be AT the airport as I try to gain entry, as that would make a trace very fast and easy."

She paused, and when no one made another suggestion for her to gun down in flames, she said, "Something mobile would be ideal. I can hack a weak node and use it as a proxy while we drive around, keeping in its signal range. If we hit trouble, we just drive away, breaking the connection and ending the trace."

"I do not own a car. If one of you does, it would streamline the process if we can use it for this."

[Mr. Grimm]

"I suggest we we rent a car," Grimm said. "It should be more difficult to trace back to any of us that way. Of course, we could just steal one to use and dump it later." He shrugs non-noncommittally.

"Either way works for our purposes."

[Imiri]

At the words about tracking her astrally, Imiri sighed. "I'm not much for detection spells, I can do an invisibility spell, but my forte is combat spells, if you need someone burned to ash or knocked unconscious, or someone to die from a distance, I can do that.. and I can throw up a nice barrier spell, but I'm afraid my only detection spell is combat related." She paused. "Now, I might try to assess the astral to see if something wierd was involved in her disappearance, or astral project to look a bit further if we get to an area that we can't enter on foot.. but that's the limit of my capabilities on that front."

[Jordan]

"What about summoning?" Grimm asked the shaman. "I heard you magic types could summon spirits and have them do things. Could a spirit track our target down?"

[Imiri]

She paused a moment, giving Grimm a momentary look, thinking he must be smarter then he looked. "Now, that's a smart idea, I admit, I could try summoning a spirit for more information, but summoning isn't really my best skill, I can do it, I'm just not all that practiced at it, my training focused on spellcasting."

[Caesar]

Caesar shook his head, "Even the shaman is combat heavy." He chuckled a little to himself before adding, "Well, at least we have options. I like the idea of stealing a vehicle, complete annonymity is ideal in my book. Imiri, if you think a spirit could help us, maybe even track Ms Craig's astral whatsit, that would be great. I think we have a plan of action here. First we need a vehicle for Valkyrie to work from, then we need to give Imiri some time to summon, though maybe we can do those concurrently. Then we hit the airport for whatever we can find there. I don't suggest gearing up in full just yet, not until we're done with the airport. They tend to have very good security there, better to take a small risk I think." He looked at the rest of the group, "Shall we?" he asked indicating the door and beyond it Seattle. "The sooner we start the sooner we get our cred."

[Imiri]

Imiri got thoughtful for a moment, then nodded slightly. "A watcher spirit perhaps, to try at first, they are fairly easy, if it can't find her, then perhaps a spirit of the mother earth can track her footsteps, or those of whoever may have taken her... though the closer we can get to her actual location, the easier it would be."

[Joani]

SCENE 3: MONEY TALKS

Armed with little more than a name, you head out of Underworld 93, leaving the crowd and the music behind you. Your ears ring in the relative silence of the cool city night. As you begin to discuss your next steps, you see a well dressed, dark-skinned dwarf casually strolling toward you. When he’s about 7 meters away from you, he stops and holds out his hands, palms out toward you.

“Peace, friends.” He says with a trace of a Quebecois accent. “I have a job offer for you.”

He has a business card in his right hand which he hands over to Caesar. It reads “Laurent Naizaire – Atlantean Foundation”

The Dwarf looks friendly and smiles at you waiting patiently for your next move.

[SalmonMax]

"What is the job?" Valkyrie wants to know. She doesn't mention their current assignment right away, however...perhaps she has at least a bare minimum skill in dealing with potential employers.

[Caesar]

Caesar winced, visibly, at Valkyrie's less than tactful reply to the dwarf's nascent proposal. "Ah, heheh, pardon my associate please," he says. sliding in front and quickly looking at the paper business card. Caesar is a little surprised at the genuine paper card, but then he sees that the dwarf is part of the Atlantean Foundation and it seems a little less out of place; dedicated as they are to ancient artifacts he supposes that a thing like a business card would retain it's place even in the digital world. "I am Caesar, my associates are Valkyrie, Imiri, Grimm, and Jian." He looks at the others, quick furtive glances while introducing them, and then continues, "I am certain we would be willing to hear you out, though perhaps a location a little more private would be ideal." Caesar thought quickly and came up with an suitable place, a little French inspired pastry and coffee house two streets over. "Why don't we head over to Le Tableau Pâtisserie? It's only two streets over and I think we can discuss business with minimal interruption there."

Rolls

Etiquette to recover from Ms. Foot-in-mouth's introduction

CHA 6 + Etiquette 4 + First Impression 2 + Glamour 3 = 15 15d6.hits(5)=4

Knowledge Fine Restaurants to find a place nearby that is both open and fairly private

Intuition 4 + Fine Restaurants 3 = 7 7d6.hits(5)=2

[Jeremy]

Jian had nodded when introduced, but something whizzed in his head about the request for a job- and the dwarf being ostensibly from the Atlantean Foundation. Ms. Craig was an archeologist, wasn't she? While waiting for Naurent's response, Jian quietly scrutinized him. What were the odds that this wasn't related to what McAllister just gave them, in a good or bad way?

Judge Intentions (Int+ Cha) Since no one is in chat ATM, I'll roll it in I-Castle.

7d6 → [4,5,1,6,5,4,5] = 4 hits

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3487519/

[Joani]

"What is the job?" Valkyrie wants to know. She doesn't mention their current assignment right away, however...perhaps she has at least a bare minimum skill in dealing with potential employers.

Caesar winced, visibly, at Valkyrie's less than tactful reply to the dwarf's nascent proposal. "Ah, heheh, pardon my associate please," he says. sliding in front and quickly looking at the paper business card. Caesar is a little surprised at the genuine paper card, but then he sees that the dwarf is part of the Atlantean Foundation and it seems a little less out of place; dedicated as they are to ancient artifacts he supposes that a thing like a business card would retain it's place even in the digital world. "I am Caesar, my associates are Valkyrie, Imiri, Grimm, and Jian." He looks at the others, quick furtive glances while introducing them, and then continues, "I am certain we would be willing to hear you out, though perhaps a location a little more private would be ideal." Caesar thought quickly and came up with an suitable place, a little French inspired pastry and coffee house two streets over. "Why don't we head over to Le Tableau Pâtisserie? It's only two streets over and I think we can discuss business with minimal interruption there."

“Agreed, Gentlemen.” Naizaire answers and follows the Runners to Caesar’s suggested place. The walk just takes a few minutes since most of the patrons have left directly after Mercurial’s performance. The “Le Tableau Pâtisserie” is a cozy and fortunately not overrun place.

The waitress assigns you a large table and serves you your drinks. Naizaire nips briefly from his glass and then smiles friendly. “I’m interested in an item Fiona Craig has ‘smuggled’ into Seattle. From what I know you’ve been hired to find Ms. Craig herself. All I want is a roughly fist sized shard made of obsidian. It should be with her belongings. I am willing to pay you 2.000 Nuyen each for recovering it for me.”

Jian had nodded when introduced, but something whizzed in his head about the request for a job- and the dwarf being ostensibly from the Atlantean Foundation. Ms. Craig was an archeologist, wasn't she? While waiting for Naurent's response, Jian quietly scrutinized him. What were the odds that this wasn't related to what McAllister just gave them, in a good or bad way?

[Joani] 10:18 pm: Naizaire's roll vs. your Judge Intentions, Jer

[Kamiko] 10:18 pm: CN is one of the many universes of IE.

Joani *rolls* 12d6: 2+5+6+4+5+2+1+5+3+5+3+2: 43

[Joani] 10:18 pm: 5 hits

[Kamiko] 10:18 pm: It's just that CN is a game of it's own.

[Jordan] 10:18 pm: Witnessed

[OOC: Aside from the obvious connection it is nigh impossible for Jian to read Naizaire. He’s like any slick Exec-Suit you’ve known in the past – a very capable one, that is]

[SalmonMax]

Valkyrie gave Caesar an unreadable look as he quickly stepped in for her, but she didn't comment further and fell into line as they all went to the pastry shop. On the way there, her eyes seemed unfocused, and she walked with a careful step...but this was not too terribly different than how she normally was. Beyond that, there was no way to tell she was hip-deep in the augmented reality of the Matrix, saturating the web of information with search spiders and rapidly sorting through the returns for genuine hits. She got lucky with Fiona's public profile...names there led to more unguarded data, and she was able to piece together some needed data.

Meanwhile, she spared a moment for a 'glance' at the airport Fiona had arrived at (now known), and wrinkled her nose slightly. It wasn't a shock that the airport had a paranoid level of Matrix security, but it was extremely inconvenient.

Fortunately, as more data came back, it was starting to look like it might not be necessary after all.

By the time the runners sat at a table for some pie and a mission, Valkyrie was back focused on the real world...and had a slight cat-ate-canary smile.

She didn't order any pie, and this time she didn't even try to respond to the New Johnson's offer. Rather, she looked pointedly at Caesar, then began folding a napkin into precise little triangles.

Rolls done in Joani's presence.

[salmonMax]: rolls 11d6: 3+6+2+5+1+4+6+1+1+5+3: 37

[salmonMax]: rolls 11d6: 3+4+5+2+3+3+4+6+5+1+6: 42

[salmonMax]: rolls 11d6: 2+2+6+4+3+1+2+5+1+5+5: 36

[salmonMax]: rolls 11d6: 5+1+3+6+5+3+6+3+4+2+5: 43

Total of 17 hits in 4 minutes.

[Caesar]

Caesar nods, "Clearly you have connections. We have only recently spoken to ... one, Mr. Johnson, and have indeed contracted to locate Ms. Craig." He saw Valkyrie's odd expression and observed her folding a napkin like a piece of origami paper. Not knowing what that was all about he chose to let it ride until they were done with their second Johnson of the night.

"I think I speak for my associates when I say that we could be willing to obtain the item in question, one obsidian piece of roughly fist size, yes? What is the nature of the item, it's value is of course subjective; an old hunk of black glass to one man may be priceless to another. Suffice it to say however that it is clearly valuable to you, and likewise to Ms. Craig, who went through the trouble of smuggling it into the country from without. Safe to say that the item has value, and as such we would be willing to partake of moral flexibility required to steal from our target, and possibly our other client." He offered a winning smile, the kind that from any other ork would be intimidating, but from Caesar it was nearly enthralling.

"Our fee however," he paused for effect, appearing to mull over the offered amount, "will need to be adjusted. There are considerations of legality of course, getting entangled in smuggling of artifacts, the additional trouble of needing to ensure that neither Ms. Craig nor our client find out that we have stolen the item." He ticked off the points on his thick fingers, as though also bringing attention to the sharply pointed and manicured nails. "I suggest 5,000 nuyen, each, and you can trust that word of this will not cross the ears of Ms. Craig or our client."

Rolls

[jameson] 8:45 pm: CHA 6 + Negotiation 5 + First Impression 2 + Glamour 3 = 16 dice

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 5+1+3+1+3+4+4+1+2+4+6+1+5+3+3+6: 52

[jameson] 8:45 pm: 4 hits

Judge Intentions to see if he's cheating us on the item's value

[Jeremy] 8:51 pm: let's hope Jameson gets better luck if he chooses to roll Judge Intentions

[jameson] 8:51 pm: Judge Intentions 16 dice

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 1+5+1+4+6+6+6+6+1+5+1+3+5+2+4+4: 60

[jameson] 8:51 pm: 7 hits!

[Jeremy] 8:52 pm: nice

[Jeremy]

The corp suit wasn't giving things away unfortunately, and at this point, he was less interested in the haggling. Also, the visuals on his googles picked up what Valkyrie was giving off as a non-verbal signal - with the nod to Caesar and the napkin folding. So she probably picked something up. Better to see if he could lend a hand than sit around uselessly. Quietly, he tapped out a text message to send to Valkyrie.

How goes the searching, and anything I can help on?

- Jian

[/CODE]

[SalmonMax]

Valkyrie didn't show any sign she'd gotten the message. She didn't blink, or stop folding. Even so, a brief moment later Jian's AR popped up a message from 'Valkyrie.'

Data search on subject complete. She left the airport and obtained a taxi. Start checking local hotels to see if any of

them can confirm registration and booking for her name. I will follow up with the taxi, and begin new searches on this

client and the artifact he's mentioned.[/code]

[Jeremy]

Ok, so that wasn't simply a cue. Jian simply shrugged inwardly and went to work with the hotels. There were ways, after all, to inquire with customer service if a 'friend' had booked a room the night Ms. Craig had arrived, or registered ahead of time, etc. Enough avenues for search that he didn't need to face the need to hack.

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #1

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 2+2+5+5+2: 16

[Jordan] 10:10 pm: True...

[Kamiko] 10:10 pm: Jordan: Are You the Gyver?

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #2

[Kamiko] 10:10 pm: err Guyver?

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 5+4+6+2+2: 19

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #3

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 6+2+2+5+4: 19

[Jeremy] 10:11 pm: witness please?

[Kamiko] 10:11 pm: amen, Jer

[Joani]

"I think I speak for my associates when I say that we could be willing to obtain the item in question, one obsidian piece of roughly fist size, yes? What is the nature of the item, it's value is of course subjective; an old hunk of black glass to one man may be priceless to another. Suffice it to say however that it is clearly valuable to you, and likewise to Ms. Craig, who went through the trouble of smuggling it into the country from without. Safe to say that the item has value, and as such we would be willing to partake of moral flexibility required to steal from our target, and possibly our other client." He offered a winning smile, the kind that from any other ork would be intimidating, but from Caesar it was nearly enthralling.

"Our fee however," he paused for effect, appearing to mull over the offered amount, "will need to be adjusted. There are considerations of legality of course, getting entangled in smuggling of artifacts, the additional trouble of needing to ensure that neither Ms. Craig nor our client find out that we have stolen the item." He ticked off the points on his thick fingers, as though also bringing attention to the sharply pointed and manicured nails. "I suggest 5,000 nuyen, each, and you can trust that word of this will not cross the ears of Ms. Craig or our client."

Rolls

[jameson] 8:45 pm: CHA 6 + Negotiation 5 + First Impression 2 + Glamour 3 = 16 dice

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 5+1+3+1+3+4+4+1+2+4+6+1+5+3+3+6: 52

[jameson] 8:45 pm: 4 hits

[Joani] 9:04 pm: need a roll witnessed

Joani *rolls* 11d6: 3+2+2+2+2+2+6+2+5+5+6: 37

[Jeremy] 9:04 pm: kk

[Jeremy] 9:04 pm: 4 sux

[Joani] 9:05 pm: 4 hits

The Dwarf takes another sip of his glass and then slowly shakes his head. “Nice try but at this time – we barely know each other - I am just willing to forward you the payment. Once I have the shard in my possession I’m willing to re-negotiate a bonus.”, he puts his commlink on the table and briefly types a few commands and then produces a secure transfer of 2k each. “Open your commlinks for the transfer and get the shard. You have my number. We talk again once you’re back.” Naizaire nods at Caesar and takes another sip of his glass.

’Rolls’

Judge Intentions to see if he's cheating us on the item's value

[Jeremy] 8:51 pm: let's hope Jameson gets better luck if he chooses to roll Judge Intentions

[jameson] 8:51 pm: Judge Intentions 16 dice

jameson *rolls* 16d6: 1+5+1+4+6+6+6+6+1+5+1+3+5+2+4+4: 60

[jameson] 8:51 pm: 7 hits!

[Jeremy] 8:52 pm: nice

[Joani] 9:19 pm: ok, here my second roll

Joani *rolls* 12d6: 2+3+5+3+3+4+3+1+6+3+2+1: 36

[Joani] 9:19 pm: 2 hits

[Jordan] 9:19 pm: 2 Hits

[OOC: He definitely knows more than he is giving away but it is hard to tell if that is related to Fiona or the Shard. Since he is representing the Atlantean Foundation both options could make sense. He carries an air of professionalism and shouldn’t be underestimated. His offer and how he carries himself leaves no question about the authenticity of his employer.]

Ok, so that wasn't simply a cue. Jian simply shrugged inwardly and went to work with the hotels. There were ways, after all, to inquire with customer service if a 'friend' had booked a room the night Ms. Craig had arrived, or registered ahead of time, etc. Enough avenues for search that he didn't need to face the need to hack.

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #1

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 2+2+5+5+2: 16

[Jordan] 10:10 pm: True...

[Kamiko] 10:10 pm: Jordan: Are You the Gyver?

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #2

[Kamiko] 10:10 pm: err Guyver?

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 5+4+6+2+2: 19

[Jeremy] 10:10 pm: Data Search #3

Jeremy *rolls* 5d6: 6+2+2+5+4: 19

[Jeremy] 10:11 pm: witness please?

[Kamiko] 10:11 pm: amen, Jer

Your search doesn’t yield much aside from what Valkyrie already revealed. Fiona has taken a cab from the airport but you haven’t found the right cab-company which can tell the destination of the ride, yet. Maybe with some more time or the right clue?

[Caesar]

Caesar nodded, "Please, if you will allow us a moment to discuss your proposition? I would like to ensure that we are on the same page before we agree to take your offer."

The dwarf nodded, "Of course, I shall be right back then." He got up from the table and headed toward the back where the restrooms were, taking his commlink with him.

"OK folks, I don't see a problem with this. MacAlister only tasked us with getting the woman back, nothing about this doohicky this guy wants. If we do it right we can even get them to think that somebody else has it. Sell it to this guy for an extra profit, and I might even be able to get a little extra on the back end for us. What do you all think?"