[Boer_Kommando]

HellBilly will follow the waitress, his eyes wander from her hips and buttocks to his surroundings. Once inside he looks at the other occupants, sizing them up mentally. 

[Panzergeist]

Mattoon finishes his beer and heads into the elevator. 

[Shrike Alvaron]

”Hmm, so he doesn’t come out here and sticks to the VIP rooms...  They must have a separate entrance to the club so no one can see who comes and goes there, typical layout but good to know if I need to run.”  Shrike thought to himself as he rubbed his chin.  When he had first got the cyberhands it always felt odd to touch another part of his body but he had gotten used to it by now.

There wasn’t much more time for him to do anything before a waitress approached him.  She motioned for him to follow, Shrike taking a final sip of his drink before setting the nearly empty glass on the bar and following behind.  He glanced about at the patrons and idly scrolled through whatever information their commlinks or decks were publicly broadcasting.  If he wanted he could probably break into more than a few of them on his way to the elevator, but he had no reason to.  He glanced up at a camera hanging from the ceiling, a much more tempting target but again, one that wouldn’t be of much use now.  There was a line with paranoia he tried not to cross.  Still, he checked his deck’s status and ensured that his agent, Sentry, was still running and monitoring for silent devices and that wrapper was keeping his array of weapons disguised.

The decker is third to enter the elevator, glancing between the ork and human who were already there.  He smiled and leaned against the back wall, crossing his arms across his chest and making no effort to hide his metal hands.  “So, going to introduce yourselves?  I have a feeling those names you’re broadcasting are about as fake as my own, after all.  Let me start, you can call me Shrike.”

[Syrinx]

Aerik had just finished off his third whiskey when the waitress summoned him to the back of the club.  He produced a half-cocked grin followed by a nod at her as he slid out from the booth.

He stayed three steps behind the waitress as they walked towards the back of the club trying boss best to not draw any attention to himself.  Jonas stayed right next to his leg and hopefully drew as little attention as possible.

As he approached the open elevator he noticed a skeezy looking ork, an elf who looks like he's spent done time on the streets, and a perfect example of your every day human already standing in the elevator.  "These chums must be here for the same thing" he thought to himself as he entered the large elevator.

"Gents...." he said as he walked into the elevator, giving them another single nod and  spinning to face the exit.  He could see in their faces that they were sizing him up but it didn't last long.  As soon as they noticed he had a dog with him, all eyes were on the mutt.  He simply faced the door opening and placed his hand on Jonas's head, who had settled down in front of him.

[dragonfire]

The elevator door closes. The lights change from a neon blue to crimson. Though the ride only takes a few seconds, you notice that once you reach the third floor, the thunder of the bass and the murmuring of the crowd are nearly silenced. The doors open to a hallway that is about 25 meters long. The walls are black, with the only light being neon crimson lining the ceiling. It's just bright enough to light up the doorways and hall, but faces are still covered in darkness. At the end of the hall, you hear a voice.

This way my friends. I've been expecting you.

As you walk down the hall, you pass doors on both sides of the hall, varying every 5 - 10 meters. You assume these to be the other VIP rooms. Just as you reach the end of the hall,  your host retreats back into the room. As you approach the doorway, you notice neon blue light emerging from the room. There is the faint sound of glasses clinking together and the music from downstairs. Entering, you see sofas lining the walls to the left and very back of the room. There is a wet bar in the far right corner of the room. The entire right wall is a giant glass window giving you a perfect view of the dance floor. In the center of the room is a large rectangular table with six chairs.

Your host is at the wet bar, lining the rim of his glass with a bright orange liquid. He looks up as you enter.



Care for a drink anyone? Feel free to help yourself. I think you'll find the bar fully stocked and it's on me tonight. I'm partial to Old Fashions personally. Though, this synthetic orange zest just doesn't give the same kick as a real orange peel. These techies love their synthetics though.

He takes the seat at the head of the table, takes a sip of his drink, and brings up an AR menu from the armrest.

Just let me know when you're nice and settled and we'll discuss why I've summoned you here tonight.

[Panzergeist]

"I appreciate the offer.  I'm partial to whiskey, cognac and bourbon drinks myself."  Mattoon mixes himself up a sazerac and takes a seat, taking only the smallest sip of his drink. 

[Syrinx]

Aerik sidestepped as he got out off the elevator, letting the others pass him as they walked down the dark hall.  He knew he wasn't here too be the grunt of the group and he didn't want to try and act like it.  He kept his eyes peeled on all the doors as they followed the voice at the end of the hall.

They entered the room to an amazing view of the club below them.  The flashing lasers of the strobes, which they were nearly eye level with, pulsed with the much softer bass.  He walked over towards the glass as the man with the obvious cyber-eye gave gave his
 introduction, and gazed below.  Aerik was always a sucker for the stereotypical avant garde techno-chick.  When given free reign over the bar, he strolled over while taking the final pull of his flask, and grabbed the nearest brown bottle.  Like someone whose done this a time or two, he refilled his flask courtesy of cyber-eye guy. 

 "Nothing like testing your welcome." he thought to himself.

After returning the flask into his innerflask breast pocket he grabbed a handful of ice and returned back to his place near the window.  As he walked, he tossed two pieces of ice at Jonas, who had remained sitting near the glass.  He caught both mid air and devoured them quickly.  He continued giving him the ice till he was out.

Back leaning against the window, Aerik leaned against the glass and waited for the games to begin. 

[Shrike Alvaron]

Shrike gave a shrug as no real response came to his introduction, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling of the elevator car as it began to ascend.  ”The quiet sorts, eh?” he muttered, closing his eyes and enjoying the music while he could.

A moment later the elevator reaches its destination, the decker’s eyes opening at the sudden silence.  ”Sound-dampeners, they have this floor sonically isolated from the rest of the building below.  Better hope we don’t have to scream for help,” he said with a wink as he sauntered out of the elevator.

He walked with the group down the hall and into the room they were motioned to.  He had barely taken a step through the door when the silence became even more deafening to him, the elf tilting his head curiously before Sentry’s voice filled him in.

”Master, all outside Matrix access has been cut off and I have detected Matrix activity within this room that was not previously noticed from the outside.  It appears a jammer is active localized to this room, preventing signals from getting in or out,” his agent’s disembodied voice said within Shrike’s head.  He suppressed a frown and walked over to the window, looking down at the dance floor below.

”Locate that jammer for me.  Don’t do anything to it yet, I don’t want to piss off our host; just find it,” he mentally ordered Sentry through a message over his DNI.

“Acknowledged,” Sentry said, beginning its look around.

Shrike wandered away from the window to the bar, finally taking a good look at the host as he began pouring a drink.  He didn’t know much about mixing his own cocktails and without access to the outside Matrix he couldn’t look a recipe up, so he experimented on a whim before settling into a chair and taking a drink of his concoction.  After a shiver passed, he held up the glass to look at the pale blue-colored liquid within.  “Huh, maybe I should have been a bartender, that’s not bad.  Unfortunately I’m not, and neither are you it seems.  You’re not a harlequin either, so I’m guessing this evening won’t be as entertaining as that message had suggested it would be.”

[Boer_Kommando]

HellBilly looked through the bar's inventory before settling on a bottle of Tequila. He hefted it up to see the color before bringing it to the table with him. He was anxious to get the meet going. The sooner it was over the sooner he could complete the job and then drink.

[dragonfire]

As the group makes their drinks and gets settled, Jack observes each. Guess that one with the dog likes the view. He laughs to himself. When he is addressed by the elf, he turns.

Yes. Joker can be a bit...idiosyncratic at times. He is truly the epitome of the fool though. I wouldn't underestimate him. Sometimes the best way to hide things is right in the open. Besides, if it weren't for him, this journey of ours would never have began. He's told me a bit about each of you. And each of you has been chosen for a purpose. For right now though, I have a specific purpose in mind.

Jack reaches into his suit pocket and removes five credsticks. He throws them into the center of the table.

As promised. 250 creds each. Feel free to keep the sticks. They're all gold and certified.

He takes a deep drink from his glass, and with a flick of his right hand, brings up a trid projection of two large crates in the middle of the table. The crates are in the back of two pretty beaten up pickup trucks, a Gaz P-179 and a Toyota Gopher. The trucks appear modified to allow for storage of one crate in the back with two seats bolted on to the back of the cab, facing the rear of the truck. Looks like you could comfortably seat four, but if push came to shove, six or eight could probably be crammed into one, especially without the cargo. The crates are all securely fastened into the bed.

I have a delivery I need made. These two crates need to get to a contact just across town. If you can deliver the items to my contact and return here by 03:00, I will pay each of you 4,000 creds. 1,000 now and 3,000 when you come back.

Jack swipes his finger across his AR controls and the projection ceases.

So what do you say?

[Shrike Alvaron]

Shrike reaches out and takes the credstick from the table, folding back his coat and making sure that the others at the table could see his deck hidden under it.  He slotted the stick into his deck’s connector and transferred the money before sliding the empty stick into a pouch in his belt.

”So, the harlequin is Joker and you’re Jack...  Wonder if we’ll meet a Queen and King, perhaps an Ace too?” he said as he closed his coat again, looking up at Jack and staring with his cybereyes at their host’s.

”Now, your offer’s really tempting but it all seems a bit too easy...  You’re meeting us in a special room which must have its own dedicated entrance since the people down below don’t know you, there’s some sort of sound dampening going on to keep our speech away from eavesdropping, and you even have a jammer keeping signals from entering or leaving this room; all that for a simple delivery job.  Sure, on their own nothing too suspicious for a man who values his privacy, but all together it starts to paint a rather interesting picture...”

Shrike reaches down to his glass and takes a long drink from it, steeling his nerves before continuing.  “By my guess, someone else wants these crates.  Now what you or they want them for is none of my business, but I imagine if they want them that bad they’re probably going to try shooting us.  I prefer not to be shot, and as much as these other fellows seem ready for combat I doubt they want to be shot either.  Give me more motivation for risking myself.”

[Syrinx]

Aerik examined the faces of the other runners, guaging if their expressions gave any indication if they were interested raise in taking on this job.  The elf was the first to speak, asking questions of why with a mix of both so subtle negotiation thrown in.  Aerik had always thought to simply say yes our no to a run.  If you turn down a job there's a hundred runners behind you that will.  He was very impressed with street prowess of the elf, while feeling a little humbled by his own naiveity.

He waited to hear the response from One-eye before throwing his name in the hat.  He had all intentions of doing so, but not before the elf got him a pay raise

[dragonfire]

Jack's glance didn't leave Shrike as he spoke. When Shrike had finished Jack got up and walked to the bar.

Haha. You thought I was Joker. I have to tell him that the next time we speak. He'll get a kick out of it. As far as the King and Queen are concerned, maybe you'll get to meet them one day.

Jack reached for a fresh glass and poured what appeared to be whiskey into it. He returned to his seat, taking a sip of his drink on the way over.

You may have noticed my eye here isn't my original. Learned from the experience of losing it that you should always be careful rather than sorry. Hence all the security. The sound dampening's part of the package for the club. Sometimes the VIPs like to have their own party up here, so yes, there is a discrete entrance and exit for a price. I see you've also noticed my little toy here.

He reaches inside of his pocket and pulls out a small black box, about the size of a cigarette pack.

What we're discussing is of a sensitive matter, so I thought it better for others to not eavesdrop. I apologize if it rubbed you the wrong way.

He placed the jammer back into his suit jacket and took a sip from his glass.

I have competitors you see. Competitors that are always looking to get the edge on my business. And before you ask, let's just say that I'm in the import and export business. As such, I make it a habit to keep what I say between the people I'm saying it to and me. Now, in regard to these packages, let's just say that the person you're delivering them to is a new contact of mine. I haven't done business with him before and I haven't done business with you folks either. From what I hear all of you here and this new contact are individuals that I could have long and happy working relationships with. My business partners also think that we would all benefit from each other's talents. For instance, my employers might be able to help some of you with your ghosts from the past. Others might benefit from business contacts that could help get you on your feet. And this is Seattle.

So in light of all this information, I'm willing to offer some hazard pay. I'll throw in an extra 1,000 each. That's 1,500 upfront and 3,500 when you return. Better? As I said, I'd like to continue to do business with you in the future, so the creds may seem a bit generous, but a well greased wheel doesn't squeek or wear out.

So what do you say?

With that, Jack finishes his drink, walks to the bar, and pops open what appears to be a bottle of well aged scotch. He pours a fresh glass, turns, and leans against the bar as he waits for a response.

[Boer_Kommando]

HellBilly leans forward his interest completely piqued at this point. "I've got a question. These trucks got a rigger interface in them?" His mind was already spinning with possibilities and traffic patterns. "And, what's point A and point B?" Even without interference from outsiders driving Seattle could be tricky and lengthy.

[dragonfire]

The trucks are rigger ready and have a bit more armor. Other than that, they're stock.