[HydroRaven]

Dawn breaks on the seat of the Japanese empire. The rising sun gradually overtakes the city lights, slowly replacing the nocturnal neon glow. With well over 40 million inhabitants in Neo-Tokyo, the City Without End could easily also be the City That Never Sleeps. Something is always happening in the JIS capital and someone always needs something dealt with.

On this particular June morning, only a few weeks away from the rainy season, the temperature is a comfortable 27C, the humidity between 40% and 50%. Clear skies is the forecast for the day, giving you something to be happy about. Akio Ryuu, Yaibei for the runners that know him, is already hard at work. Training for a great number of years already, he goes through his regiment every day with great focus. Both his body and mind must be ready if he is to earn his master's recognition.

Around 13:00, Akio is summoned for a private audience. After the appropriate politeness protocols, he sits down in the traditional seiza position on the tatami mat. His master talks to him calmly, "I have a task for you. I need you to go to a lawyer's office and retrieve some personal effects that belonged to a recently deceased dear friend of mine I haven't seen in over 20 years. Here is the address, I'm counting on you" says the sensei, handing Akio an envelope with an address in the Ginza area. The master bows to Akio, saying "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" and Akio bows back, lower than his master, as is expected.

Gathering a few of his belongings, Akio sets out, getting to the nearest train station. Yaibei gets the usual looks from children, parents telling them not to stare, people on the train preferring to stand rather than to sit next to him. He makes the 45 minute commute across Neo-Tokyo, getting off at Yurakucho station. After a few minutes of walking around, Yaibei finds the "Kodaira & Associates" offices in a modest building, on a side street.

He is greeted with a surprised look by the receptionist. The look only lasts a fraction of a second, professionalism quickly returning. She welcomes Yaibei, immediately telling him that the offices of "Trusty Taro", the Japanese lawyer advertising his cheaply-priced services to metahumans, is a few blocks away. Yaibei, being used to this, gives her a polite smile and tells her he is here on behalf of his master for the effects of Mizuki Kobayashi.

After being taken to Mr. Takeyama, the lawyer in charge of handling Ms. Kobayashi's last wishes, Yaibei bows before being given a business card and is invited to sit on a comfortable chair. Formalities eventually transform to business and Yaibei gives the contents of the envelope to the lawyer. The lawyer, verifying that the paperwork is in order, nods as he reads the documents. After a few moments, the lawyer leaves the room and comes back with a medium-sized wooden box. He hands it to Yaibei and asks him to sign a few forms. With the box in hand, Yaibei stands up, bows to Mr. Takeyama that returns the gesture and makes his way out of the lawyer's offices and back to his dojo.

Once back with his sensei, Akio waits as his master goes through the contents of the box. He first examines the death certificate with an emotionless face. He then goes through various personal effects, ranging from a commlink to a credstick to a traditional calligraphy brush. Lastly, the sensei opens a sealed letter that was addressed to him but sent to the lawyer's offices, written a few days ago by Ms. Kobayashi herself. As he reads the letter, the master's expression gets serious. "It seems your task will get more complicated than expected. I will need you to meet someone tonight at 21:30 at Womb club in Shibuya. This man will assemble a team to deal with this, so I want you to make sure this run is done properly. I am counting on you, Akio" says the teacher before bowing and dismissing Akio.


Around 16:50, 4 commlinks get a variation of the same message, from different sources.


@Pipebomb
From Sandman: "Work offer tonight at club Womb. Be there for 21:30."

@J
From Yamada: "I know you're looking for some nuyen, so club Womb tonight at 21:30 unless you're too busy."

@Kuren
From [:stid:] "1 g0t 0ff3r3d 4 j0b but c4nt t4k3 1t, s0 4s th4nk5 f0r 4ll y0ur fav0urs, 1m p4ss1ng 1t t0 y0u. th3 j0b c4nt b3 0n th3 b00ks th0ugh. club w0mb, 9:30"

@Smiley
From Max: "Hey there omae, how's it going? Heard you were crashing at Jodie's on a regular basis now, did you two finally hook up and didn't tell me or what? In any case, if you want to wine and dine the girl, you better get some money. This is where I come in: I have a job offer for you. Go to club Womb tonight at 21:30 and check it out."

[Chrona]

"Thank you very much, Watamote-san.  I will be there."
Jumping into the air slightly he pumped his fist. Finally a gig! J looked down at himself, clothes worn and dirty, he scratches his head of greasy hair. Hrg, I should get changed.
Slipped into his armour he feels slightly better but he still had to contend with his Eau de Homeless and general look.

Physical Mask Force 6 Magic 5 + Spellcasting 8 + Moon Maiden 2 (15d6.hits(5)=7)
DV4 Will 5 + Cha 5 (10d6.hits(5)=3) 1 Stun

Luckily he could effortlessly weave a much cleaner, suited version of himself out of mana before starting his walk to the club. He slung his katana over his back, left an ARO for Joe and set off.
He had too much of an excited buzz to notice the headache.

[Crossbow]

At "Jodie's Place" Daniel Smiling Wolf checks his com and grins, forwarding the note to the lady in question and also blind copying his response to her as well.

"That is not the way to get back into her good graces, or anywhere else for that matter, insinuating she would stoop to fooling around with a gutter trash gaijin that passes out in her bar.  Thanks for the tip, I'll be there."

Jodie eyes him from the other end of the bar where she is sweet-talking a couple of tourists through another pitcher, and he gives her a silent salute and a wink as he ducks into the back to catch a quick nap on the cot before he heads out, it could be a long night ahead. 

[Lumen]

Kuren was sitting in TIA HQ reading the latest detective fiction when he got the message for work.  *How excellent,  work has been to sparse lately.  I certainly could use the nuyen and the exercise,  both mentally and physically.*

To [:stid:] <I certainly appreciate the tip omae. I will be sure to investigate,  where is the meet?  Is there any other information available? >

Kuren begins to prepare his typical gear as he awaits further instruction.

[HydroRaven]

Kuren gets a quick answer "w0mb, 9:30 t0n1ght"

[Necrogigas]

Michael Fischer was busy, pouring over maps of Neo-Tokyo, traffic density reports, and media bites about the city's social hotspots, when he got the call from his fixer. He gave Sandman a curt reply, "Acknowledged." Fischer begin preparing for the meet with an unknown Johnson and an unknown number of unknown runners. Using plastic zipties, Fischer bound five sets of four sticks of dynamite, setting electric blasting caps in one stick in each set. He placed the detonators on a single circuit connected to an electric exploder. Fischer was worried that 5 kilos of dynamite might not be enough to also take out his assailants too if this was some kind of trap, I'm gonna have to buy a better exploder when I get the cash, and better explosives. After finishing with the mutually assured destruction option, Fischer wrapped it around his body and concealed it underneath a brown jacket that was two sizes too big for him. He had intentionally bought the oversized jacket for this expressed purpose, plus it also obscured his true physical profile. On top of that he'd cut a hole into the interior of the jacket so that he could run wires from inside the jacket to the right exterior pocket, so that he could keep the exploder in that pocket while having it ready for use. To conceal his facial features he put on a pair of sunglasses, a baseball cap, and flipped the collar of his jacket up.

He left his motel room and walked the three blocks to the shopping center where he parked his car. He drove his beat up Honda Spirit to the club two hours early. He hated driving a Nip made car, but an American made car would've drawn too much attention. He did several drive bys of the block the club was on, keeping an eye out for security measures, law enforcement, and anything overly suspicious.

[spoiler=Handling Detonators]
Demolitions 5 + Agility 4 = Pool 9
9d6.hits(5) → [5,1,2,6,1,5,1,2,6] = (4)
9d6.hits(5) → [1,6,6,1,5,4,4,2,5] = (4)
9d6.hits(5) → [6,1,4,1,2,4,4,4,6] = (2)
9d6.hits(5) → [6,2,2,2,4,5,4,4,2] = (2)
9d6.hits(5) → [2,2,6,1,1,6,6,6,3] = (4)

No critical glitches, glad I have successfully not blown myself up on the very first test in the very first post. 
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Perception]
Intuition 4 + Perception 5 + Hawk Eye 1 + Perceptive 2 + Actively Looking 3 = Pool 15
15d6.hits(5) → [1,4,3,1,3,5,2,5,2,3,1,5,3,6,4] = (4)
[/spoiler]

[HydroRaven]

@Pipebomb

As you drive by the place, avoiding the random club-goers waiting in the streets (or what you would call a narrow alley back in California), you notice the usual security: a pair of bouncers at the front (one of them carrying what seems like a stun baton), a pair of cameras giving on both sides of the street and a camera on the inside looking at the entrance. Not 100 meters away the same setup is apparent, but this time for club Atom.

[Raiden]

Akio takes no time in grabbing some gear,strapping his katana to his back. Seeing he has some spare time he works through a session of sword training and ends with ]some meditation training to cool off. He then begins making his way to the public  transportation that would get him to the club the quickest while attempting to keep a semi low profile. Once at the club he will take a look around the area to see if the man he is supposed to meet is there. If he does not see him He will make his way into the club.

[Lumen]

Kuren responds with a quick reply <Arigatō.>.  He then pulls up the number for his usual taxi service and submits a request for pick up at 20:00, hoping to give him plenty of time to scope out the establishment before the scheduled meet.  While waiting for the cab to arrive Kuren throws on his trench coat on over his suit and grabs his stun baton from it's charger making sure it is fully charged and places it in the deep pockets of the trench coat.  Once he gets the notification from the cab that it has arrived, Kuren grabs his cane and hat on the way out the door.  As he rides along Kuren pulls up AR on his contacts and does a quick search on the club.

Data Search 3 + Browse 5 + Analytical Mind 2 = 10d6
10d6.hits(5)=2 2 hits, 5 1s


Upon arrival he pays the cab and scopes out the crowd for a moment before heading inside, leaning slightly on his cane as he walks.

[Chrona]

Arriving after a very long walk J gets in line, hoping that he's on a guest list or something as he hasn't been told who to meet. He decides he might as well take a look around the astral for any clues.

Assensing 4 + Intuition 4 (8d6.hits(5)=1)

[Crossbow]

At approximately the same time, Smiley makes the scene, rumbling in on his hog and then after chatting up a few familiar faces heading into the club.  The Womb carries some fond if hazy memories, a lovely little thing in electric blue hair that made him tea the next morning his first week here.  Heading for the bar and ordering a mixed drink to sip he is soon deeply interested in the life of the artist on the next stool.

[HydroRaven]

@Kuren

You quickly try to find as much as possible on club Womb and stumble upon a gold mine of information: club Womb was owned at some point by Ryumyo, the great Japanese dragon, and is now under joint control of the Yakuzas and the Triads in an attempt by Ryumyo to settle their differences.

[HydroRaven]

Thursdays are usually busy for the Neo-Tokyo nightlife and this one is no different. The line outside is about 20 minutes to get in, but mentioning your own street names gets you inside without so much as a pat-down.

On your way past the cashier, you notice the usual "Watch out for Foreign Crime Gangs" posters and the monthly event line-up for the club. A few patrons are out in the hallway where the music isn't as deafening as it is on the dance floor. The well-lit hallway eventually gives to a darker, louder dance floor packed with young Neo-Tokyoites. A few stares are aimed your way, sometimes by people incredulous that anyone would try to pull off that look here, sometimes followed by a few feminine "kakkoii".

You approach the barmaid, a platinum blonde with a dark tan and long nails and despite the music manage to ask where the meeting area is. She gives the usual Japanese polite smile while she looks you over. She then hands you a token to the VIP area and a drinking menu, raising one finger, indicating you may choose a drink. The list consists mainly of the synthetic stuff, with true alcoholic beverages being priced accordingly.


@J

A quick peek at the entrance reveals that the place doesn't seem warded except for a section inside the club. Nobody inside the general club population seems to be awakened, except for a faint expression on an Ork towering the rest of the crowd and what looks like a human Amerind.

[Chrona]

If it is free or there is anything he can afford J takes one to be polite. He thanks her and moves onto the VIP room, eager to start his new life. Mentally he's prepared for some sort of group job interview... when he pauses and realises the ward might be set off by his illusion... with no choice other than revealing he is a dirty hobo in a classy club, he presses on hoping for the best.

[Necrogigas]

At around 21:00, Fischer parked about four blocks away. He placed his hold out pistol, a Morrissey Elan, in a concealed holster at the small of his back. He figured the dynamite would probably be enough to deter assailants near him from attacking, but  one couldn't be too careful. He also strapped a large survival knife to his hip, and for good measure placed a high explosive grenade in the left pocket of his jacket. He checked to make sure that his armored vest was properly secured before walking to the club.

He ignored the line of club goers and walked straight up to the bouncers, gave his alias, and entered the club unmolested. Once inside, he approached the nearest hostess and stated he was there for a meeting.