[Reiper]

Lasciel puled into the parkinglot,of the restaurant, running later than she really wanted to. Great, I ate crap for breakfast and I bet they won't even offer us an appetizer, she mumbled to herself as she swung her leg from the bike. She looked around to see if anything looked out of place.

Perception check (5d6.hits(5)=1) Perception (default) 2, +3 vision enhancment: 5d6.hits(5) → [1,6,3,1,4] = (1)


She just hoped that she wouldn't run into any of her former customers or any dwarves.

[Bewilderbeast]

Alicia did her best to suppress a sigh and a roll of the eyes. Not even an hour into her supposedly "clandestine" activities and she'd already been recognized. Turning to look at the man offering her coffee, however, she immediately realized he was not the typical fan. An acquaintence of Massimo, I wonder?

"No thanks, chummer," she replied. She gave the can of iced soykaff in her hand a little twirl, the faint sloshing noise indicating that there was still some inside. "Appreciate the offer, though, that's sweet. Mr... ?"

Before Concrete could answer, Siren was distracted by a strange-looking woman peering into the windows of Parolacces. It seemed the runners were indeed starting to show up for the meet. Siren pointed at the restaurant across the street with her pinky finger, glancing over at Concrete. "You, uh... you like Italian, too?" she asked, hoping he'd pick up on the implication and give her some indication that he was indeed one of her fellow runners.

Etiquette roll to suppress being obviously annoyed at being spotted:
Etiquette = (14d6.hits(5)=5)

[Ren]

"The name's Mike Curtis. And yeah, i like Italian." He paused. She coudn't mean... To hide his distress Concrete half-turned to look at the restaurant. "Unfortunately they are closed. I'd prefer one of their capuccinos insted this."

To hide his shock at the thought: CHA(3) + Etiquette(1) + Empathy software(3) (7d6.hits(5)=1) (not much of a success)
To catch her meaning: INT(4) + Negotiation: Sense Motive(3) + Empathy software(3) (10d6.hits(5)=4) (still not believing)

Also noticing the woman in front of the door, and picking up her question even over the distance he narrowed his eyes. Well, at least one other arrived. But man, she could be more cautious. Turning back to Alice he continued: "I know an italian coffee shop nearby if you are interested. You really should try that." As he began to concentrate on Alice he thought, to hell with the job this is a much better alternative. But to confirm his suspicion he mentioned. "This here is the genuine thing though."

[Padawan]

Coming back from the alleys, Trog saw a bunch of new individuals gathering near the restaurant. Look at those two... weaklings. That Ork looks alright I guess, he might hold his on in a fight.

Trog walked over to the group of two. "Hoi Ork, you here to meet Massimo?" He glanced at the Elf with a sort of exasperation on his face. "And why are you here smooth one? Look awful weak if you ask me, leave the running to the big boys." Trog chuckled a little bit to himself. "Think we'll at least get something to eat? I could stand a good meal instead of that soy bullshit they feed us now." Trog sighed and rubbed his stomach.

[Bewilderbeast]

Siren blinked mutely at the troll for a moment, choosing to ignore the insults. Perhaps I'm overdoing the whole subtlety, cloak-and-dagger thing...

She exchanged a brief "Can you believe this guy?" glance with Mike, looked back at the troll, and then back to Mike. "So you two are runners, then?" she asked flatly, sipping the last of her soykaff.

[Ren]

This is just getting better. "You could say that" he answered to Alicia, obviously annoyed by the troll's assault. He then turned back to the newcomer. "By the way, Omae, some introduction would have been in order first. Anyway, do not let the lady in front and those inside wait. Time is money and i think we are all here to trade one of them for the other."
After the initial shock of meeting one of his favourite voices of the sprawl and realizing she might be as deep in the shadows as himself, he casually acknowledged that the troll in front of them was wearing a law enforcement combat armor. He then looked for the profile of Alicia's comm and put the flashing sign Danger Magnet above the troll in AR, visible only to her. He then lighted his next cigarette and offered her one before heading to the entrance.

[Gorean]

Arriving at the resturant with a good few minutes to spare. Lord took his car into the parking lot, taking to care to keep his gym bag out of casual sight he wandered over to the restaurant, sending the command to lock the sedan en route.

Entering the restaurant he took a look around for the Maitre d'.

[Padawan]

"Call me Trog." He said bluntly. Little bit stiff aren't they... Trog turned as the Ork walked passed. "Guess it's close enough to time. Just in case though, there is a service entry out back and an emergency exit on the side, we may have to use 'em. Trog began to follow the Ork.

[Ren]

"Interesting choice for a name, Omae. One i hear too much of the time - even if only behind my back. Mine's Concrete." He looks back at Alicia with a smile. "Well, the other one. Anyway i am happy since it seems i am not the only one who has done some prep. Still i am not expecting any trouble from our hosts. They probably already have more drek on the table than they can handle."

[Bewilderbeast]

Siren suppressed a chuckle at Concrete's unexpected "Danger Magnet" gag, but she couldn't help but think that he was right. The unfortunately-named troll certainly seemed to draw a lot of attention to himself, but surely their employer knew what he was doing. Maybe that's why I'm here... cover for the gaffes, keep the knuckle-draggers in check? Or, drek, maybe I got that message on accident...

"Trog, yes?" Alicia couldn't help but be a little uncomfortable with the slur, but if that's what he liked to be called... "You can call me Siren." He began to follow the two men into the restaurant, sending an AR text back to Concrete's commlink. And if you wouldn't mind calling me Siren, too, for the time being? If anybody's thick enough to not recognize me, well... I'd like to keep it that way.

She hoped Concrete didn't take it the wrong way; he seemed like a nice enough guy, and she appreciated him not making it all awkward when he recognized who she is. Still, it was a worrying sign... Cutpurse was getting big. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her double-lives separate.

She shot Concrete her brightest smile. "How about that capuccino, chummer?"

[Padawan]

Funny little thing, though it's nice to see someone uneasy about my name...Doesn't happen often Trog smiled at Siren due to his thoughts, but immediately resumed his gruff exterior. "If my name makes you squirm, you can call me Igor... or just say 'Hey big guy', since that's what I am after all!" Trog gave a short bellow of laughter at his own joke, finding himself to be quite funny.

Trog turned to Concrete, "Concrete huh? Interesting choice yourself. As for my own... If someone has to say 'Trog did good', well then it makes them to use the word in a positive way." As they walked closer to the building, Trog stopped by the new, slightly agitated looking woman by the entrance. "And who might you be?"

[Gustovness]

The time is: 8:51am

The door flies open and Massimo greets the now amassing team at the door in a shirt that's louder than his greeting.

"What the frag is youz idiots all doin' standing aroun' the front door for? Get inside before somebody sees yas!!"

The team enters the restaurant one at a time and without letting their guard down except for Needle who seems to not be sensing any danger at all.  Don Lorenzo, the head of the Bigio family, is seated at one of the tables with a young girl who looks like she's been through a rough night out and motions for everyone to approach.  He takes stock of all the team members, sizing them up without saying a word.  He glances over to Massimo who exaggeratedly reflects the Don's facial expression of worry before throwing both arms up in desperation and saying:

"They was the only decent professionals I'z could find on short notice!

The Don stands up slowly, showing his large frame.  A beast of a human, he beings to speak softly but with an obvious worriment in his voice:

"I have a problem.  My daughter, Maria, went missing a few hours ago in Redmond.  She was with her friend Ashley here...

he motions to the distraught girl still sitting at the table...

... when she went missin'.  I will pay you TEN THOUSAND NUYEN for the safe return of my daughter.  Ashley here will help as much as she can.  Please, find her and bring her back to me!

The Don turns his back to hide his emotion, refusing to show weakness to the runners.

Ashley, in skimpy clothing and heavy makeup and mascara running down her face, starts talking a mile a minute:

"Mee's and Maria was goin' out for a night on the town togetha, just have some drinks and watch Nabo at The Skeleton, know what I'm sayin'? Well, I'z go to tha bar to gets us some drinks and when I come back to find her, she's gone!  I looked all over the place for her but Nabo had already come on and the music had gotten REALLY loud and I could barely hear myself think! I asked the bouncers if they had seen Maria and they told me she had left with some guy just minutes before.  I figured, I dunno...

She looks to Don Lorenzo who's peering out through some window blinds and continues on with the following part of the story in a quieter tone...

... I dunno, maybe she went into the alley to make out with this guy.  At this point I was more pissed than scared but when I walked into the alley to look for her I heard a comlink beepin'.  I found it in the middle of the alley...

Ashley begins to hold back whimpers while drying her eyes with a napkin...

... Ashley's comlink in panic mode.  I picked it up and her dad was on the other side screaming 'Ashely!' 'What's going on!?' and when I told him I lost her and think somethin' may have happened, he told me to stay put and then came by to pick me up."

Ashley begins to breakdown into tears fully now.

Massimo comes over and puts his hand on Concrete's shoulder, "Guys, we need to find this girl quick.  There's no tellin' who's she's with's or what they's is doin' to her.  If you guys pull this off for me and make me look good I can guarantee you'll have more work down the road if you want it.  That's all I've got for ya's."

The Don, who had been standing with his back towards the team at the other end of the restaurant since Ashley began speaking, slammed on a table with both fists and crushing it before walking into the kitchen.

[Severus Snape]

As she stood outside the door, waiting to see if anyone would answer her knocking, she started thinking this might not be the right place.  Here she was standing all alone, waiting...when she could be sleeping.  But then Trog asked her who she might be, and her lack of social skills decided to rear its ugly head.

"Well, I might be the President of the UCAS.  Then again, I might not.  I might be a homeless girl, standing here trying to get the attention of the owner so I can scam him out of some food.  Then again, I might not be that either.  I might be any number of different people who you haven't met yet.  But seeing as you are, in all likelihood, referring to what my name is, you can call me Needle.  As in 'hypodermic'."

...

Once inside the restaurant, Needle takes a seat at any available table near where Don and Massimo are seated, barely paying attention to anything that might be out of the ordinary.  She may be smart as a whip when it comes to the matrix and medicine, but social situations were not her strong suit.  The Matrix was her home; this physical world...not so much.

When Ashley finishes speaking, Needle focuses on the one piece of information she found relevant:  Mia's commlink.  And her social awkwardness reared its ugly head again.

"Her commlink...we'll need that.  At least temporarily.  It may hold some clues as to who she was last with, where she may have been headed, and why she was taken.  She could have been looking something up when she was swiped, which could lead us to her.  Maybe go through her contact list and hit them up as well.  I mean, I'm sure you thought of all of this, right?  But it couldn't hurt to have someone take a second look."

[Reiper]

Lasciel listened to the story and then closed her eyes briefly, changing her visual perception to the Astral. She looked around the room casually, assensing everyone's Auras to see if they could find anything else out about them.


Assensing Test: Order Massimo The Don Ashley The Pretty Elf The Orc The Troll The new girl (snape) (4d6.hits(5)=2, 4d6.hits(5)=2, 4d6.hits(5)=1, 4d6.hits(5)=2, 4d6.hits(5)=1, 4d6.hits(5)=1, 4d6.hits(5)=1)

2 hits on Massimo
2 hits on the Don
1 hit on Ashley
2 hits on Siren
1 hit on the Orc
1 hit on the Troll
1 hit on Snape

Sorry if I missed someone, will assense you later, I did it on one roll 7 times instead of 7 individual rolls, if you want them all individually in the future let me know.

[Gustovness]

Ashley digs through her purse for half a second before sliding Maria's comlink across the table to Needle.

Meanwhile, Lasciel's dip into the astral gave her insight into her true surroundings.

Massimo's aura shows his emotions as a mix between worry and excitement, but it's hard to pin point exactly which one... the closest emotion could be likened to getting ready to ride on a thrill ride, but worried that the safety harness might actually come off and result in a bad ending. His aura is orange.

The Don's aura betrays all of the emotions he was trying to supress.  The man is devestated and his aura resembles a violent fire of a dark red blood color conveying anger as well as deep sadness.

Ashley's aura is weak, showing that she's not in great shape.  Her aura is suffering from the traumatic night she just went through of having her friend go missing.