New Blood (Main)

Seattle, a dreary Tuesday night, nine pm.

The rain washed the dirty streets dry as metahumans of all descriptions and styles ran for shelter across the city. The acid rain had been getting worse for weeks and the spitting noises as it fell on the Stuffer Shack had become little more than background noise to even the most sensitive of the cities residents. Behind the neon lights and potholed streets however, hidden from the eyes of every living soul, a stream of data flowed, connecting every building to every other. Amongst thousands of comcalls and hundreds of matrix requests, amongst fridges automatically reordering soy and credsticks verifiying transactions for screamsheets, an encoded data packet swam that river noticed and unregarded, finding its way to three trid units and rapidly decoding itself. The message, even outside of code, was cryptic, but to the three recipients it made perfect sense.

The Nest, 10 pm. Flinch.

This was the call. They had wanted work, the kind of work only the sinless could handle, and now they had it. The Nest was Flinch's private bar, hidden in plain site beneath an agricorp building on the edge of the barrens. Its no weapon rules and the quality of talent hired to guard the place was all that kept the gangs out and business flowing but if it was shadow work you wanted, it was the best. Flinch knew his market and the call thus left no option. It was time to go to work, whatever the job might be...

Yoshi got the call. It woke him up. When your homeless, sleeping helps pass the time, if you can find somewhere nobody bothers you.

Yoshi had learned that lesson the hard way. Gangers rousted him from his last spot, he had nothing and they knew it. That didn’t stop them from beating him anyways. His ribs still hurt. Maybe broken. He had finally found a nice overhang that sheltered him from the horrible acid rain falling on his head.

And then the call came. Flinch. Yoshi knew the man. Worked with him in the past. The SR’s he provided to Yoshi were usually substandard. That’s what Yoshi was now… substandard. That realization hit harder than the gangers boot to his ribs.

Yoshi looked at himself. Filthy. He needed to get cleaned up. Where? Yoshi had been shown once how to break into a maglock. But that’s what passkeys were for right?
He wished he had paid more attention.

He had seen a man earlier with a hose outside his restaurant here in the barrens. Maybe he could find it. No luck, spent nearly twenty minutes searching. Yoshi searched his options nearby and decided to go knocking on apartment doors. Apartments… as if you could call those things people live in around here apartments… Yoshi missed his luxurious arcology apartment, regular meals, and showers. With his last 5 nuyen Yoshi talked an elderly man into letting him use his shower. That money would have fed him soy for a week. It must have been Yoshi’s lucky day the man even had soap.

With ten minutes left to get to the meet Yoshi crossed the last few blocks in the downpour, this suit wouldn’t last much longer.

Yoshi talked his way past the bouncers, made his way to the back, picked an empty spot, it had a view of the doors, and a wall at his back. Yoshi waited. Alone.

He was always so alone.

Like Yoshi, when the call came, it woke Faust from his sleep. Unlike Yoshi, Jack Chambers, known to his fellow runners as Faust, was not sleeping on the street. No, he was in a very upscale apartment in downtown Seattle, decorated in a pre-Crash style. If he looked out his window, he could see what was left of the Renraku Arcology. If he squinted, he could almost make out the individual soldiers bustling this way and that around the perimeter, as they worked to clear out the last bits of the SCIRE.

Had it only been two years since the shutdown began? It seemed like another life ago. Maybe it was.

Jack checked his messages, decoded the transmission. Flitch, huh? Well, that was good. Rent wasn't due for another three months, but he didn't like waiting to the last minute for things like that. He went over to the bathroom, to wash his face. In the mirror he saw the sign of his damnation. Five black bands upon his right arm. Suddenly, he keenly felt the need to shower. They wouldn't wash off. They'd never wash off. Some sins could not be washed away.

Stepping out of the shower later, Faust dressed himself in the style he normally used when running. There was a time for fancy clothes, and all that. But when you were a street samurai, then why would you go with that? No, he had a simpler dress code.

He strapped on the black security armor he wore when he expected trouble. Black, with red trim. Fitting the helmet over his head, he looked back into the mirror. The armor was distinctive, sure. He'd spent most of his life around Renraku's Red Samurai. While this armor didn't look exactly the same, and wasn't nearly as effective as the real Samurai armor, it did evoke the image of a Black Samurai, at least in some. But one couldn't simply drive down the street in full security armor without causing a stir. Reaching into his closet, Faust pulled out a long leather coat, an unarmored version of the lined coats people were so fond of these days. For him, it was just a bit of camoflauge, and this coat was designed to fit over his armor, while not impeding his movements. The benefit of having money, and being able to pay a decent tailor to make your clothes. Sure, it didn' completely disguise the armor, but it was enough for while he was driving. But the most important thing was that it was another layer, over his clothes and the armor he wore, that kept his sins from being public knowledge.

Next, he loaded up on his weapons. A Predator in a shoulder holster. A SM-3 slung across his back. Plenty of ammo for both. And from his hip hung the katana he used with such deadly skill. Of course, some weapons you could never take away from a man. There was a reason why his armor was designed with three slots in the gloves on either hand, allowing the spurs in his arms to emerge, when he needed them.

Sure, this was a meet, but how many times had a meet gone south on him? Never with Flinch, sure, and never twice with the same person he was meeting, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. And it wasn't like there weren't people who would love to see him full of holes. But the real reason was that sometimes a job required springing into action immediately, and it didn't pay to have to go home and get your gear.

Going down to the building's parking garage, Faust straddled the Scorpion he used for 'work'. As he drove, he felt the thrill he only experienced when he was driving. If he'd known driving was this much fun when he was a kid, he might have considered becoming a rigger rather than a security guard. Maybe.

Five minutes before the meet, Faust entered the doors of the Nest, his Scorpion safely stashed in a secure lot. The bouncers evidently had word to expect him, or maybe they didn't want to check and see whether Faust was as much a Samurai as he seemed. Either way, they let him in, with a minimum of fuss. Especially when he checked his guns and sword at the door.

Looking around, pulled off his helmet and found himself a place at the bar. Flitch would be here. In the meantime, might as well have a drink.

As always, the nest was full to capacity. It may have been a dive, but everyone in the area knew Flinch and knew full well that if you wanted to avoid gang trouble and just forget your cares, his was the place to go. The troll on the door, Hammer, gave everyone a hard time, it was his job, but he merely smiled and nodded his hello to the two runners. He knew them, knew their weapons would be stored safely in a lock box by the door and heck, if Flinch like them, so did he. He'd wave the fifty nuyen charge for them.

Inside, the biases that drove the owner were clear. While the sounds of trog rock drowned out most every noise below a scream and the elven waitresses could have passed in any dive, the differences were there. The staff, from Hammer with his cybernetic right hand to Scratch the blonde, leggy elf who managed the creds with her long facial scar, it was clear these were refugees and outlaws. Those who had seen too much suffering in their time. And the cause of that suffering was hinted at just as surely. The walls were decorated with sports team uniforms from years before. A San Francisco 49ers, cherry red shirt hung behind the door, a white Giants baseball one behind the bar. Maps of California and old time downtown San Fran were painted on the dance floor. If even this wasn't enough, they sold drinks from every nation on earth expect one. Not one sign of imperial Japanese culture could be found, except for a poster explaining what would happen to any Japanacorp or Imperial worker who tried to enter the place. Flinch's politics were obvious to all...

The runners were met at the bar and their drinks served. Scratch smiled when they tried to pay for their drinks. "This ones on us. You want booth four. The boss is waiting" is all she'd say. Flinch wanted to talk in private it seemed, hense the booth...

Well, if Flitch was picking up the tab, that was fine with Faust. He ordered a whiskey, the real stuff, not that soy-based synthetic drek you saw too much of these days.

He knew he stuck out like a sore thumb here. Wearing Samurai styled armor into a place that was clearly anti-Japan wasn't the smartest of plays, but he knew Flitch, and since he wasn't working for a corp now, there shouldn't be a problem. Leastways, not any more. That first time, however...

Faust had just recovered from his 'withdrawal' after fleeing the Arcology, just started running. He came recommended to Flitch by a mutual aquaintance, and obviously his armor was distinctive enough that it prompted a question. Faust simply answered that he was former Renraku, emphasis on the former. When Flitch asked why he left, Faust simply answered that he'd been inside the Arcology when it shut down, and he wasn't keen on going back to that life. Flitch had clearly heard the rumors about what was going on inside the arcology, and let it drop. Since then, he didn't ask any more information, and Faust didn't offer it. That's just the way it went.

Faust chuckled at that memory. If Flitch knew the truth about him, would he be so willing to fix him up with work? Somehow he doubted it. Sitting down at the booth with his drink, he leaned back in the seat, and put his helmet on the table, waiting to see what would happen.

Casper looked over the message from Flint. Work. Good, this was exactly the sort of thing he had been looking for. The scarred dwarf rubbed wanders over to the wardrobe, the think plush pile carpet feeling good on his bare fear. Lets see... the silk suit should do nicely. Not that anyone would see it. He got dressed quickly, then picked up the gear that mattered, his foci, from the dresser. A couple of quick spells later and he was on his way.

(a little over an hour later)

Shortly after Faust sat down, an stylishly dressed human appears at the booth - literally. Sim-star handsome, dressed in a white silk suit with a black undershirt and a bolo-style tie that would have cost a furtune, he materializes out of thin air like some sort of ghost. And like a ghost, he is ever so slightly see-through. The apperition nods politely to Faust and takes a seat across from him.

With the three runners gathered in the booth, word is passed through the back and Flinch himself walks out of the "staff only" door to the right of the bar and across the floor to the booth. He nods politely to the patrons and smiles at the staff, his presence friendly and disarming. His hair is blonde, cut in a short crew-cut military style and he is wearing what look to be combat issue clothing down to the boots on his feet. He is human and of above average height and build. Yet, his physical presence isn't the most striking thing about him. Its his confidence. There can be no doubt whose place this is in any mind and he holds himself subtly but unmistakably upright, proud and unphased. All eyes lock on him as he walks across to the booth, except for the odd woman who is still staring at the movie star good looks of Casper anyway.

Flinch steps in to the booth and takes a seat next to Yoshi. He reaches behind him to close the sliding door and immediately the change in the space is incredible. Silence hangs where once the trog rock was deafening as the sound dampeners do their work. Holding up one finger to keep everyone silent for a second, Flinch slides a hidden panel back on the wall and slides his finger in to a bio-reader. A green light illuminates and then Flinch slides his finger out and closes the panel.

"Now we have our privacy assured, let me get down to business. I know we are all busy people, so if you all don't mind I'll dispense with the small talk. You all contacted me looking for work. I may have found you some. Understand, you are untried and untested so this first job might not be the most demanding or well paid but it will give you a start, a chance to prove your skill sets on the scene if you see what I mean. I know you haven't met, but I'm sure you understand that things in the shadows move quickly so formalities are a luxury that can rarely be afforded. Your prospective employer will be here shortly. He wishes to meet on neutral turf and so has taken my recommendation of using my bar. Do not think that means I will get involved however, I may like you and I may not. I may know him well or I may not, either way I am just the middle man. Either way, this is your last chance to walk away from this life. Mr Johnson will be here in a few minutes, so I recommend you get your drek together as a team and if you don't wish to run, leave now before you let anyone else down. Either way, my reputation is on the line. I am well known for finding the right people for the job, so please, be professional. You scan?"

He looks at you as he finishes speaking, his Californian accent strong and his delivery seems relaxed despite the speed at which he speaks. Now you have met in person, you can see why he has the reputation he does. He seems completely in control but also friendly. He smiles softly.

"Now, you have any questions before I get back to work or am I ok to just send your prospective employer over as soon as he arrives?"

(OOGM If you want to look at anything in more detail at any time during the game (Not necessarily now but if you feel the need), just let me know and I'll accommodate your perception rolls...)

“I have a question…” Yoshi speaks softly but firmly “do you have a general idea of what type of work it will be? I don’t do wetwork.” He scans the others to see if they reveal anything from this statement. Especially Flinch.

Flinch looks at the group, checking their reactions as he speaks.

"I may be a heartless fragger when need be chummer, but I wouldn't start a new team of runners out on something like that. The real big time stuff I leave to trusted, shall we call them experts?" He smiles, which isn't entirely reassuring. "I obviously don't know details, it ain't my place to ask, but from what the Johnson has said, and my finders fee, I think your going to be relocating an asset or something small scale like that. No wetwork required. More details than that, ask the Johnson. Anyone else?"
He looks around, watching their responses.

Faust shakes his head. "No, that sounds fine to me." He wasn't completely untested, of course. He'd been doing minor stuff for the last two years, since he escaped the Arcology, but most of that was doing errands for one of his 'friends'. The fact that those errands paid well was a side point. So he didn't have much in the way of a rep, yet.

Looking to the others, Faust nods. "I'm Faust. Street samurai, if the armor didn't make that clear. Mainly like to get in close, but I've got a couple tricks for long range stuff. What about you two?" Might as well get a handle on who everyone is, and what they can do, right?

Flinch realizes that the team are starting to get to know each other from Faust's last remark and takes his leave. He nods respectfully to you and says "I have stuff to do, but I'll be in the office if you need anything. The Johnson will be here in a few minutes and I'll send him in to you. Best of luck chummers" and with that he slides open the door and steps outside in to the deafening roar of the trog-rock and the shouted conversation of the guests. He pulls the door shut behind him and silence falls over the space once again, you left alone as a team for the first time.

Yoshi sat stunned… how could he have forgotten. Shadowrunners use aliases to protect themselves. What should he call himself? His mind raced through possibilities. For obvious reasons he could no longer don the name of Mr. Johnson… but what to call himself? Could he just pick like that? Did shadowrunners have to be named by other shadowrunners? Like a badge of honor or nickname? Was it really just as simple as picking something out?

His mind raced through a thousand possibilities. Trid star names, holo-film characters, book characters like this Faust fellow, (he certainly felt like Odysseus unable to return home). But how to choose something that he would be referred to for the rest of his career as an illegal lap dog of the corporate community? Should it be something pompous like Bond or something shrewd like Nixon? Yoshi rather liked Nixon he could say ‘I’m not a crook’ if he ever got caught… NO that was stupid.

Yoshi looked himself over, his hair long and uncut, his beard grown in and scruffy, his clothes stained and torn, the white Russian drink in his hand, and one name popped into his head and wouldn’t let go.

His mouth began to move before he could consider it:

“I am known as Lebowski, but everyone calls me ‘The Dude’”

Yoshi sat in stunned horror. Did he really just call himself ‘The Dude’? Of all the idiotic, hair-brained, jackass, names to call oneself, ‘The Dude’?!? He might as well have just stuck with James Bond…

Maybe there was some way still to recover, could he laugh, and play it off as an ice-breaker joke? No, then he would look even more foolish, as if that were possible.

Instead he looked down at his drink and tried to find the bottom as quickly as possible.

Interesting folks. This whole shadowrunning thing might be more fun then he thought and it was a good excuse to practice his newfound art. Casper's smile might have a faint mocking edge to it as he nods to Yoshi. "The Dude it is. And a pleasure to meet you Faust. I'm Casper, your friendly neighborhood ghost. I'm a mage - stealth and mind control mostly. I'm a lover, not a fighter."

Faust just shook his head. The dude? Casper? Well, there were worse names out there, he supposed. And it didn't matter if they had drek names, if they could actually pull things off like they were supposed to.

"Great. Well, when Mr. J gets here, who you want to do the talking? I'm not exactly the best with negotiating, unless you count cutting pieces off someone until they tell me what I want to know."

Faust nods. "Good, then you take the lead in talking with Mr. J. Since we don't have a decker, I guess we'll have to contract that out. Fortunately, I have a couple contacts from the old days who are true badasses on the matrix. But they'll expect some kind of payment. I've done work for both of them, though, and they're the real deal. So if it looks like we'll need a decker, try and get Mr. J to add a bit more to the pie so we can hire out."

Suddenly you hear an electronic beep as a passcode is used to unlock the booth from outside. The noise from the bar fills the tiny space as human of around average height stands there in a crisp but non-distinct black suit with a white shirt and black tie. His face displays no emotion as he steps inside the booth and sits against the door. The door is closed from outside, presumably by the same staff member who opened it for him and silence reigns again. He slowly reaches in to his jacket and takes out a black palmtop. He looks at it briefly then nods. "I see the security here is as good as I was led to believe. Good, I would hate to have a reason to distrust my contact who recommended your fixer already." He leans back in his chair, his gaze slowly weighing up each of you. "And you, I take it, are the team I asked to be assembled. Very well, I will get straight down to business. I am looking to have a person relocated from one corporate family in this sprawl to another. This person must not be harmed in any way, be that physically or mentally. They must be in their new home by 6.00am on Friday morning. I am aware this is a short timetable however and have certain information that will make the task easier. I will pay 12,000 to the team in total. 2,225 now and the remainder on completion of the task. I will, however, give no more information than this until the task is accepted. I hope you understand the need for certain key points to remain confidential until I can be assured you have my interests in mind in this matter shall we say?"

He speaks with a powerful yet understated tone, a man clearly used to brisque, efficient business meetings. His English is flawless but perhaps overly formal. The total lack of emotion he displays suggests either he is a good actor or very used to this type of situation. He sits and waits for your response, totally still...

“I have been assigned as the group’s voice.” Yoshi makes direct eye contact and speaks in a serious but warm tone “First I would like to clarify a few minor things before we continue.” Yoshi pauses for dramatic effect. “As it stands right now this group is incomplete, that is to say we are severely lacking in several key areas of expertise. Therefore we will require extra compensation to acquire additional assets. An extra 6,000 in total and an additional 1,000 up front will be necessary in order to complete this task in the time allotted.”

He looks at you for a second. "I take it from the fact we are debating price you are interested in the job? That is good." He smiles. "Now, I assume by your comments you you mean the fact your team lacks a vehicle expert and a computer criminal? I can assure you the group contains all the elements I requested and that you will need. Those gaps were left intentionally. However, I am aware that you may wish to check over some of the data I am able to provide for you so I am willing to increase the offer. I will provide 15,000 in total and will give you 3,500 up front. That is however, my final offer. If you do not believe you can complete the task for that, let me know so I can conclude this meeting. I have a tight deadline and will have my contacts find another team who can. So, is this new offer agreeable?"

He looks at Yoshi for confirmation...

He nods. "Very well." He reaches in to his inside pocket and produces a white paper envelope. Inside are a number of bits of paper. He looks through and places the first few on the table. They are pictures of a young blonde elven woman. She is dressed in standard corp issue work clothing but with no major names or labels indicated. Even so plainly dressed, she is hauntingly beautiful. The only really shocking feature is that her datajack and chipjacks are both older versions, unusually in what is clearly a wealthy

"This young lady is Jessica Fairbanks. She works for Novalight, a small time software company based in DeeCee." He points to the pictures. "For reasons that need not concern you, we have decided that her talents are wasted there and she is to be relocated to the SimStars Modeling Agency, a branch of Solidad Media Entertainment. They are not expecting her however, and that is where your skills come in. A datatrail has been planted that states she has been hired by Simstars as part of their new secretary intake but we could not get the needed bio-data on to they're system. In short, once she is inside the building her faked data will be strong enough to keep her in they're employ but she would not get through security. You can see why we need your help then." He pauses a second, looks at you to see that you are focused then returns to the information he is giving out. "You are to kidnap Jessica and then sneak her in to the Solidad building, in to the new intake dorm after the new staff arrive on Thursday afternoon but before employee orientation on Friday night. She must not be harmed in any way, nor must the Solidad security have any idea anyone has arrived outside of the proper channels. Doing so will put her fake ID in danger of being revealed."

He goes in to the envelope again. "I said I had information that would help in the execution of this job, and I do. Firstly, we have discovered something of Jessica's personal habits. While she never leaves the Novalight gated community she calls home, the level of security surrounding her is not always the same. Her duplex home is well protected but three times a week she attends an evening exercise class in a school building just inside the community. She walks and so is on the street. She also walks to work daily. Either way, in order to place her in your control, you will need to get in to that gated community. I can help with this."

He takes three standard, registered credsticks out of his pocket and swipes them on his palmtop. "Ok, these contain your promised advanced payment, two with 1k on and one with 1k5." He places them on the table "Do with them as you wish but keep in mind they are also loaded with the Novalight gate passcode for Wednesday and Thursday. So long as you do not cause the guards to suspect you, you can drive right in to the compound with these and, theoretically, so long as no alarms are sounding right out again as well. I do not expect you to trust me on this, so feel free to have a decker friend check them. The code will not degrade when inspected. However, it will be out of date midnight on Thursday."

He removes the final item from the envelope. A jet black, unmarked chip. "You will also find this useful. Slot it in to Jess's chipjack and you will find her far easier to transport. Again, feel free to have a decker check it out, but do ask him to be careful with it. I wouldn't want him to damage himself." he remains emotionless as he says this. "Now, how you get passed Solidad's security is your problem, I'm afraid I cannot help you there. Obviously, feel free to ignore any of this information of course, but I will arrange to meet you for final payment through Flinch when I have confirmation of her unharmed and safely engaged in her new employment. I hope I have been clear. Any final questions?" He leaves the paperwork, cred and chip on the table and looks at you.

Hmm. Sounded easy enough. Simple snatch and grab. They'd need a way through security at the other end of the run, but they could burn that bridge when they got to it.

Looking around at the others, Faust nodded his head, indicating he was agreed. He reached out, and slipped the two credsticks into a pocket of his coat, before leaning back in his seat. "So that we're on the same page, we can't harm the package physically or mentally. Does that include tasers, stunning spells, mind control spells and other such subdual tactics?" Afterall, if using a taser or mind control spells counted as harming her, that was going to make holding her still long enough to insert the chip more of a bother.

Then again, if they could find a way into her home, they could grab her while she was sleeping. But for that, he would have to make a call. Likely the one he really wanted to avoid making.

"Ahh, an educated question." the Johnson says, sitting back "I'm glad you asked. I was rather unclear. By unharmed physically and mentally I mean no lasting marks or trauma. If you need to use a sleep spell on her or convince her she's invisible or slip her a sleeping tablet, I have no problem with that. If you want to mind wipe her or something then I do. She must be her normal self, with no lasting effects other than those that chip brings on, on Friday when she reports for work. Including emotional trauma. Is that clearer?"

“Just a moment,” Yoshi interrupts Faust, raising an apologetic hand “There are two problems I can see immediately. One, if she is willing why would we need the chip for her jack? Two, if in fact she is not willing what is stopping her from blowing her own cover once she is inside Solidad? I understand Novalight not wanting her to leave but if she herself does not wish to leave and Solidad does not want her there implicitly, we will be faced with certain failure. “ Yoshi eyes the Johnson suspiciously looking for any clues.

He smiles, reluctance in his eyes. "That is why you have the chip. Heard of Psychotropic black IC? Ask a decker if not. See, at the moment she thinks she is happy with Novalight. After that chip, her loyalty will be only to Solidad. I hope that clears up that issue."