[Gustovness]

Cuco crushed his empty soykaf cup and tossed it on the ground.

5 nuyen? I ain't even mad that was actually half decent.

Cuco headed over to Puppeteer and pulled out the mustached doll.

"OK, Juju, whoever the hell you are and whatever the hell this is..."

Cuco holds up the doll.

"... it's pretty obvious we're in this together at this point."

Cuco hands Puppeteer the doll.

"All bullshit aside, it looks like we're all we got."

[Ren]

That one must be a powerful initiate, being able to conceal not only his presence but even his spells. The thought wasn’t very encouraging. But as Puppeteer couldn’t help it, he simply had to live with it.
When reaching the room, he silently drew next to one of the walls, leaning against it. The presence of the spirit was a little bit comforting, although he was pretty sure the other party also had its own astral guard. Now, let’s see what future holds in its hands.

Then, just as he settled in, Cuco produced the next surprise. "Thanks... appreciate it." he said in a marginally unsure voice. Then, he started to take a closer look at the doll, both in astral and in physical.
astral: INT(5) + Assensing: Aura reading(5) + Mentor(2) (12d6.hits(5)=4)
physical: INT(5) + Perception(1) + Mentor(2) (8d6.hits(5)=2)

[Csjarrat]

Observing the handover of the weird looking doll, Flea notices a flurry of AR messages come through with her connection to the 'trix restored.
Flea breathed a sigh of relief when the sattelite fix was established, showing her position as still inside seattle boundaries, though a disused hangar at the airport might make an escape tricky.
"Good news guys, we're still in seattle, though we're at the airport. I'm back online too, so check your 'links."
Mentally commanding the GPS overlay into her helmet image link, she requested three routes to be calculated to downtown Just in case.
The thought of downtown reminder her of her bike, parked up in expensive metered parking.
She tentatively opened a connection to it and requested it's node provide a gridlink co-ordinate to be overlaid on her helmet GPS, fearing the worst for her account.

There were three messages waiting in her AR feed, all from Joey.
Chikuso, he seems pretty worried

/Begin message, Matrix Message Protocol 1.0.2b/ Hey Joey, I'm fine, I got snatched downtown and taken to the airport. They had us in a dead zone so i've only just got your messages. Not sure what its all about yet but i'm unhurt. Sending my co-ordinates to you now in case you dont hear from me in the next hour. Spotted some Renraku markings, let me know if you've got any news on this. //encrypted attachment//

Cuco, how's the coffee?

Having recently regained her electronic freedom, Flea wanted to know who else was out there on the airwaves:
Helmet scanner (6d6.hits(5)=4)
Ewar 5, scan 1(commlink) (6d6.hits(5)=3)

Flea awaits for the results to appear in her AR overlay

[AffreuxLex]

-- Ren --

Your initial examination of the doll turns up no new information.  It is a simple canvas doll with basic features except for an exquisite handle bar mustache made of human hair.  As you open your eyes to the astral however, something interesting turns up.  As you discovered before from a distance, it is indeed a drain focus which has undergone the ritual to be bound to yourself.  Obviously you must have done this sometime during the period that you are unable to remember.  However, mixed amongst the various hues and shapes of the aura you are able to pick out something a bit different, vague enough to be difficult to spot yet distinct enough to recognize.  Small bits are reminiscent  of Cuco's aura.  Something about this doll was once a very important part of him.


-- Csjarrat --

In addition to Cuco's, Alexi's, and Puppeteer's commlinks you also find one more broadcasting a public PAN profile.  The rest of the hits are all common nodes associated with the airport public terminals.  The nearby PAN is for a woman calling herself Anastasiya Zhenya.  Her profile claims that she is 5'6", 102lbs, red haired, green eyed.  She is a Roman Catholic from the southwestern area of Tír na nÓg known as Leinster and looking for someone special.

// Encrypted message incoming
// Autodecrypt enabled - Protocol 1.0.2b

>> Is this some kind of weird Japanese prank? 
>> First you tell me Renraku is a lie and that you're on your way to the airport.  Now this?!
>> You aren't making any sense.

>> Joey

[Gustovness]

@Flea

"Not sure if my head being screwed with what with all that memory jogging and spell slingin' has something to do with it but its actually pretty good."

Cuco runs his fingers along his mustache, curling it up.  He takes a deep breath and exhales.

@All

"Ok, let's see what the Johnson wants."

Before he begins to make way as directed, he forwards his comlink to the team to allow for matrix chat.

"Don't assume matrix chatter will be private, either... no matter how encrypted it is."

[Csjarrat]

//Reply v1.0.2b// I know it sounds sketchy, but thats because it is. I got snatched from downtown, lost 12 hours of my memory, woke up in a metal prison inside a hangar with 3 other people and got shot at by a drone.
Its been a rough day so far! I've got to go into a meet now to see what this is all about, i'll call you as soon as I get out. If you could look into this name: Anastasiya Zhenya, should come back as an elf of Irish descent. Its probably a fake SiN but any help would be brilliant Joey. I'll take you out for a drink as a thankyou, lv kyoko xx
Flea calls up her MSP account services and opens up the built in search agent, assigning it her basic browse software package and the SiN details from the broadcasting node as a search parameter, not expecting much of use.
@gm, please can you run an extended search test for me for the agent R1 and browse R1? I'll leave it running indefinitely until it provides some data. Thanks!
@Cuco
Yeah you're right, we should go
Flea follows Cuco towards the door

[JDA]

Alex inspecting her dice that she had found and trying to figure them out. Puts them back into her pocket and looks at the group.I too believe that it is that time, alright ladies and gentleman, Lets go see what this guy has instore for us. She then places her self to the front of the group and brgans to walk to the door.

[AffreuxLex]

-- Csjarrat --

Your agents don't turn up anything immediately but they continue to run and search.


-- All --

You enter the room and find a woman seated behind a large glass desk.  It's not possible to make out her height while seated but she is a fairly thin elf with red hair and green eyes.  She motions for you to take a seat at one of the chairs arranged in a small arc around her desk.  After everyone has taken their seats, she begins to speak with a noticeable Russian accent.

Well done on the second phase of your testing.  The nature of the mission we have for you necessitates team work and the ability to trust one another.  There will be no more tests.  Once we finish here you will visit Dr. Vostok to get your immunization booster then board your flight to the Caribbean League.  Before you ask, here are your personally signed documents giving us permission to erase your memories in order to proceed with our test.

On the end of her desk, four physical pieces of paper are laid out with each of your names written on the top.

Before I go any farther, this is your final chance to back out.  After this you will be obligated to fulfill your contract to us or forfeit your lives.  Any questions?

[Csjarrat]

Yes, if I may, what does this contract entail?
and when does it end?
As you "wiped" my memory, I can't remember anything about it.

[Gustovness]

someone verify the authenticity of these documents if possible.  Check 4 signs of stress in the signatures if possible.

"Why would we want to pass up a vacation in Caribbean?"

Despite Cuco's snide one liners, he thought it best to let "Casino" run the negotiations.

[Ren]

Something didn't add up. They would not have been able to convince me to sign anything like this with only money, or some physical incentive. Puppeteer also found the fact of any written material suspicious. This wasn't the usual method in their line of work. Of course, he wouldn't accept just someone's words on this kind of drek, in fact, he still didn't.
"Actually, Mr. Johnson, i think you do not see the situation clearly. With recent events and the fact that neither of us remembers anything about signing a contract or allowing anybody to rape our minds, it is not a question if i want out. You have to give me details to convince me i want in." He looked into the elven woman's eyes. The sheer lack of rationality of the situation made him frank and more than a bit irritated, as well as somewhat confused. He pointed at Flea. "As she said, the details of our... supposed contract might help."

While waiting for an answer, he slipped back to astral sight. He looked at the four documents, supposedly signed by all of them. He looked for any signature, any indicator that these had anything to do with any of them.
[spoiler=looking for signatures]INT(5) + Assensing(3) + Mentor(2) (10d6.hits(5)=3)[/spoiler]

[JDA]

Mr. Johnson, I'm sure you went over the details of the contract before you wiped our memories. They had to be good details to get myself and my colleagues to agree to them. If that is the case, then why don't we go back over them again, this time without our memories being wiped. I'm sure you will agree that no one negotiates in sincere fashion with a gun to their head. Or are you having second thoughts about your end of the bargain? I can assure you my colleagues and I are quite capable of carrying out our end. No doubt, you have seen a a VERY small sampling of our abilities. I can personally assure you that you haven't even scratched the surface of what it is we are capable of together. Besides had we known in advance that we were going on to the carribean, I and my team would have brought with us better supplies to ensure the success of the mission. That Mr. Johnson is in both of our best  interest. So we need to know about this contract? What is involved and the lenght og time we are obligated to it for? We will need time to better equip ourselves? It wold be nice to know who were working for? As well as some good faith honesty.[color=black]Alex switches to her comm link and sends a breif message about her siutation to her contacts. Billy the blogger and Mark Mafia consign.I don't like the situation with these negotiations or my predictament one bit.
thought
speech
action
[/color]

[Gustovness]

equipment... yeah i'll need at least my hat before heading out... staff and piece are optional...

[Csjarrat]

An Irish elf with a russian accent? clearly a fake SiN. let's see if she has anything running in hidden mode...
Calling up the radio signal scanner in her helmet, Flea dumps its output into her contact lens imagelink for privacy and begins to trawl the airwaves around their "host" for a hidden PAN

"detect hidden node"- complex action.scan 6(helmet), electronic warfare 5. (11d6.hits(5)=5), threshold is 4, so pass with one spare hit.

[AffreuxLex]

-- Ren --

The paper and ink are completely mundane.  Very slight and indistinguishable traces of astral signatures can be seen from people who had simply handled the documents but nothing has been altered or tampered with in any magical way.


-- Csjarrat --

You discover a secondary PAN running in hidden mode.


-- All --

The woman glowers at everyone for a moment.  When Alex is finished speaking, the woman leans back and seems to consider the situation.  Once again, she speaks with her heavy Russian accent.

Very well, you have proven yourselves capable and my colleagues agree that we can share a little bit more with you but I can not give you specifics until you all have committed.  As I said, you will be travelling to the Caribbean League for this mission.  Teamwork and skill will be necessary and you have all shown that you have both.  Even so, it is very risky.  You will be travelling incognito as business partners visiting a recent acquisition.  Your flight will be leaving at 0900 hours and what you do before that time is up to you. 

It is currently around 7:45am.

There is enough space on the aircraft for any gear you may need smuggled into the country but you will have to make your own arrangements with our pilot for a secretive pickup.  Your flight back to Seattle will leave tonight at 2300 hours local time, whether you are on it or not.  I'm sure you no longer remember but previous to your test we had discussed compensation.  There will be no upfront payment and we will not budge on the amount.  The corporation feels it is being very generous at 1.5 million.