[kalarin]

Lightning flashes overhead streaks flashing across the sky with radiant light. The sound of thunder rolls in not long after with a monsterous boom. Rain pelts down like a blanket across the city, coating everything with a miserable sheen of wet. Welcome to Fox Island, Seattle, Chummer. The weather sucks on a good day, the soycaf's drek and nuyen's tight.

There is low class and then there is where you are, a run down bar in a seedy part of town. Fox Island aint exactly known for its fine dining and formal dress and well, Doolan's bar is a step below that. The good definitely outweighs the bad for a shadowrunner, however. Several rather large troll bouncers make sure that pretty much everyone keeps in check, the bar is known to attract Johnson's looking to hire, there are rooms out back where one can conduct business in private and the owner is known to keep his mouth shut about the goings on.

The time is just after 10. It's your typical Friday night, patrons are just now moving past tipsy, you see several mosh pits starting to form from the latest act… some of the better bands from tonights card must be playing. You notice the drummer of this latest band is excellent, drek, better download the EP later.

The reporter speaking from one of the various trids around the bar sparks your attention. "An explosion near Fox Island Boat Ramp on 3rd Avenue has brought Fox Bridge to a screaming halt. Those who need to leave the island should sit tight until further notice. The Knight Errant are on the scene, currently questioning several witnesses. Stay tuned for further updates" The trid shows footage of Fox Island bridge. Traffic is at a standstil, people are out of their cars looking around. You see a large plume of smoke rising in the background. It will be a while before this mess is cleared…

@Trance
"Heyyy love" You turn, seeing a ridiculous looking human in a red leather jacket and fedora smile, just before he winks at you. "Drink and a party, sweetheart? You know Swish will show you a gooood time." You're a little disturbed, he's old enough to be your father. You turn your head ignoring him, glancing at the trid from your seat at the bar. You're pretty sure this loser won't cause trouble here. From what Mini Boom told you, this place has a reputation for keeping folks in line. Looking at the trid, the areal footage of Fox Island bridge playing catches your eye. You won't be getting off the Island overnight, obviously. Shit, you had a meet with Mini Boom first thing tomorrow morning… Even though you've only met recently, The crazy, fast talking dwarf with 4 cyberlimbs to boot seems to be trust worthy. You'd best let him know you may be late.

You were hoping for a job and fast… cash is tight, rent is due and you'll be out on the street if you don't get work soon.

@Duckdown
 It's an exceptional night, the bars almost half full, there's even a few mosh pits starting up.  you notice several humans edging away from a mosh pit started by two trolls and an Ork .There are a few patrons singing along with the music, these guys must be pretty popular here. Shit, Deen looks hot, she always looks hot playing the bass. You shift your focus, from Deen back to the drums. This is a difficult song. You're glad she convinced you to play tonight. You weren't sure it was a good idea to fill in, though being honest it wasn't too hard for her to persuade you. The music's a lot heavier than what you normally play, the drums much more demanding. After a brutal set the singer calls an intermission. You wipe the sweat from your brow, heading to the bar for some water, possibly a beer.

Glacing overhead you see the reporter on the grid. Drek, you think, you were hoping to pop over the bridge in the morning…. Hopefully this is nothing too major. As you get to the bar the commlink in your pocket vibrates. You notice it's a call from Zipline. Drek, she probably wouldn't contact you unless it was important, the two of you never really did get along and it's been quite a while since you've heard from her.

>>Incoming Call
   >>Contact: Zipline

@Slim
You're not happy. The exit fee from the Dolly Sisters Gang was exorbitant. That ware you'd been eyeing up is now a distant memory. You paid your dues, you're still kill on sight and you've been burnt by most of your contacts. You're on the bones of your ass.

"Honest" Joe, has offered you some work. He's probably the least honest Joe you've ever met, though for now you're desperate. He's asked you to look in to the disappearance of children from the Northern district of Fox Island. He has said a few of the parents of the children have banded together, putting up the nuyen to have someone look in to the disappearances. You suspect Honest Joe has other agenda's, though it does seem to be a noble cause. There are rumours a local gang is involved, snatching kids off the street and selling them to the highest bidder. You're holed up at Doolan's, Joe has said Andy, the owner of the bar has connections and could possibly help meeting others looking for work. Without a team you trust you're little wary taking on a job like this, your reputation in gang circles is shot, you'd best make sure you have decent backup before making a decision.

He's asked that you let him know if you're interested by 11:00, tonight. The clock is ticking… You flick your attention to the reporter talking about the accident. Drek, you think to yourself. I won't be getting off this island anytime soon. You look at your clock, an hour to make a decision. If you're going to talk to Andy you'll need to persuade one of the trolls bouncers for an audience. Sipping on your drink you listen to the music, contemplating your next move…

@Cheshire
You find the music intriguing. It's not quite anything you've heard before… The groove of the drummer catches your attention, he moves from a drum fill in to the break down, very tight.

Since you've been off on your own, you've found things tough. You find yourself at Doolan's, Fox Island, sipping back a vodka and soda. Andy, the club owner has been good to you. He's given you the odd job and while the pay is average, he's given you enough work to keep you on your feet and off the streets. He's asked you to meet him tonight. On of the trolls motions you toward the back door. Looks like Andy's ready to see you.

You follow the troll down a hallway, walking past several open rooms. large round wooden tables are placed in each, surrounded with seats. Several of the doors are closed, no noise can be hear inside. Andy definitely has a good setup here. You enter the the door at the end of the hallway, the troll closing the door behind you as you enter. At the back of the room, lounging in a leather recliner sits Andy. He'd be your quintessential Jamacian, were he not european. He smiles a cheesy smile, feet up on the table, sipping on a glass of whiskey, neat.  "Ahhh, Cheshire, sit." He sparks a match, lighting a cigar and taking a large drag. "Good ta see ya.." he exhales a plume of smoke "I have a friend, possibly be needin someone wid ya…mystic skills for a lil recon mission… Be some good nuyen in it for ya brother. Whaddya say?"

@Kitty
You catch a small crowd gathering at the corner of the bar. You notice several Street Fighter 2070 arcades lining the back wall of the bar. Competition looks fierce, though you think you can school these chummers. You walk on over, cosmopolitan in hand, lining up for your turn. You hear the music in the background… It's not your genre, but the band is definitely decent. There's an arrogant ork, trash talking his opponent at the arcade. He laughs, "Fool you be trippin if you think you beatin me, everyone knows I'm the champ here!" You glance at the trid above the arcades, the mention of Fox Island garnering your attention. An explosion? You wonder what may have caused that…While you wait for your turn you pop in to AR, browsing the local news sites and load up the traffic reports for Fox Island Bridge…

>>Search Initiated
   >>Please enter search terms…

[Celtibero]

The game forgotten for a fraction of a second as the line slowly crawls Caroline feels that maybe that fool of an ork will have to wait for his turn on the reckoning grounds. the news intriguing her, her implanted commlink AR display coming to life at her bequest.

//config ASDF//
//1343//
//load: Virtual machine//
//load: Toolbox//
//load: exploit//
//set grid hop: Global//

As she set up for a better connection (the pucblic grid did have its limitations) Kitty craned her neck just just a bit and exclaimed Omae! whats taking you guys so long?! just move the line or wipe his ass! while flashing a large grin.

grid hop: 13d6t5 3

[Poindexter]

Duckdown turns from the bar, shot of tequila in one hand, lime in the other, and heads towards the backroom set aside for performers. As he heads down the short, dark hallway, he downs the shot and tosses the glass toward an already overflowing rubber garbage can. He sucks on the lime and mentally gives the command to answer the call.

Whaddup Zip? How are the girls?

aint seen Leonards daughters since before i went in.

[SlowDeck]

Trance sighed and tapped her commlink to begin a message, quickly typing on it. Shwoosh or whatever his name was quickly faded from her memory as she focused instead on the far more important item of the bridge being closed.

I may miss our meeting. Someone decided to put on an amateur fireworks show and the Knights Who Say Duh closed the bridge. Keeping an eye out for if the fireworks display is followed by a final New Year. Please let me know if an alternate arrangement is necessary? I know your time is very valuable and I am extremely saddened at wasting it like this!

She then leaned back and reached her hands up to rub her eyes.

Great. I might end up living in a cardboard box if this keeps up. Or work summoning spirits for Johns.

And then she sighed.

Strange how close "John" and "Johnson" are. Might say a lot about runners.

She leaned forward and turned her eyes back to the news.

I wonder what Chip is up to? No idea what Earth elementals get up to where they live. And I probably shouldn't nickname the elementals...

[Tenlaar]

What do I say?  I say you're even crazier for asking me here than I am for showing up.  We both know I don't belong here.  Trouble, that's what's in it for me.  Nothing but...

Realizing that Andy is waiting for an answer and knowing that he can't afford to say no, Cheshire sighs and closes his eyes for a moment.

"Alright.  What have you got?"

[kalarin]

@Kitty
You deftly navigate the matrix, exploiting your way from the much slower public grid to something a little more useful. Piece of cake, you think to yourself. Now to see what the hell's going on…

The ork roars with laugher as he downs his latest opponent "Think you can beat me little girl? I was the champ before you were sperm in ya old mans sack" he continues his laughter, a couple of his cronies join in while several people in the queue are looking at you." He HAS been on here a while, you wonder how good he actually is.

@Duckdown
As you walk back stage, you notice this is the only door that isn't guarded. You guess most musicians don't need the same privacy as some of the other patrons. You feel the warmth of the tequila moving down toward your belly. You think you'd better take it easy on the shots if you want to finish the set on top.

You take Zipline's call. you begin to ask about the girls when she interrupts you."Duck? Oh god, Duck" You're worried… This aint the usual condescending tone she gives you "They're missing… Both of them. I figured they're just out playing, you know? But it's been 2 days and nothing…Please…There've been disappearances lately…" she burts out sobbing. "Please help them…"

You spend the next few minutes calming her down. Once she settles slightly, Zipline tells you she'd found out the girls had snuck off to a concert. She checked their email, The Silver Clovers, an up and coming pop rock group, were putting on a show, about 15 minutes north of Fox Island Bridge, she knows they had tickets. To your surprise you find Zipline had recently moved less than an hour from you, though she had never bothered to let you know.

@Trance
You watch in your peripheral vision as Swish moves off, trying it on with another lucky lady. You laugh to yourself, he's likely playing a numbers game, hit on 100 and hope to get lucky.

You order another drink, sitting at the bar keeping an eye on the trid, It's not long before Mini Boom comes back.

>> Incoming Message
   >>Contact: Mini Boom
      >>Message: And an EXCEPTIONAL explosion it was! Hehehe!! No matter… this MAY work in my favour. I've been doing a little digging, Those Knight Errant fools have quarantined off the area. You won't be going anywhere soon!! As exciting as the explosion was, Andy, the bar owner and I have a mutual interest in keeping the bridge open… Be a dear, tell one of those troll meatheads he keeps that I sent you… That is if you want to make some nuyen while you're stuck, hehehe!! Perhaps you can be of assistance"

You shake your head as you read the message. Mini Boom talks like a 13 year old girl. He has been a big help however and if you can make some cash off this inconvenience it could tie you over for a month or so…

@Cheshire
Andy leans back even further, smiling even wider. "A simple job mon, I been asked ta look in to some kids dat gone poof! You want to help tha kids ya? Course ya do…" He puts out his cigar in an already overflowing ashtray, immediately sparking another. "Dat astral sense you have be most useful finding things I need found. Kids been goin missin and I think de Mongels biker gang be behind it. I give you de location, you go look? Oh.. Check out de explosion while you there ya? I want to know what's going on and it be niiice an close to their headquarters. Maybe you go look for a favour, we discuss paid work after? Only take you a second ya?"

You wonder how long he has worked on that ridiculous jamacian accent. You watch Andy finish his glass, grabbing a decanter from this desk and topping up. You notice he doesn't extend the hospitality. He fills his glass, waiting expectantly...

[reyjinn]

[Friday 22:06 | Fox Island | Doolan's]

Bloddy no good fixer, having me do his job for him. Should be his thing establishing contact with a team... suppose beggars can't be choosers and at least he got me a name to reach out to.  Waiting for a slight lull in the traffic through the door Slim walks over to one of the bouncers and grabs his attention. "Hey, I've heard your bossman Andy is good at connecting people with likeminded business interests. Is he available to talk biz tonight?" After a slight pause Slim adds, "It's about some missing kids."

[kalarin]

@Slim
You head over to the troll near the back of the bar. He's at least 3 meters tall, huge, muscular arms folded, doing a damn good job of looking intimidating. You've seen several people come and go tonight, if Andy's anywhere he'll be found this is the door to go to.

You tap him on the elbow, managing a "Hey" before he grabs you, swinging you around, slamming you in to the door. He bends down looking in to your eyes, snarling "You best have a good reason for disturbing me, chummer. This aint the place for a walk in appointment" You finish your sentence. He looks at you, considering his options, scowling before opening the door. "Follow me" he says. He walks down the hallway, motioning to one of the empty side rooms. "Andy's busy. Once he's done I'll see if he's interested in talking, THEN we'll see where whether you get a meet, or a weighted swim..." you hear the door close, then lock, the toll leaving the room closing the door behind him.

You look around, the walls are bare and other than the table and chairs in the room, there are no other furnishings. Drek, you think. What has Joe gotten me in to? You ponder your options...

[reyjinn]

Those guys are in serious need of some education in manners, don't know if I could take them both though.  Slim takes a seat and checks on his extendable baton and the Colt in its arm slide. Nothing to do but wait I suppose.

[Poindexter]

@Duckdown As you walk back stage, you notice this is the only door that isn't guarded. You guess most musicians don't need the same privacy as some of the other patrons. You feel the warmth of the tequila moving down toward your belly. You think you'd better take it easy on the shots if you want to finish the set on top.

You take Zipline's call. you begin to ask about the girls when she interrupts you."Duck? Oh god, Duck" You're worried… This aint the usual condescending tone she gives you "They're missing… Both of them. I figured they're just out playing, you know? But it's been 2 days and nothing…Please…There've been disappearances lately…" she burts out sobbing. "Please help them…"

You spend the next few minutes calming her down. Once she settles slightly, Zipline tells you she'd found out the girls had snuck off to a concert. She checked their email, The Silver Clovers, an up and coming pop rock group, were putting on a show, about 15 minutes north of Fox Island Bridge, she knows they had tickets. To your surprise you find Zipline had recently moved less than an hour from you, though she had never bothered to let you know.

Duck flops down on the beer stained off-green couch in the back room and puts his feet up on the cigarette burned coffee table. He reaches into his pocket, removes a jar of zen and a large thick paper, then begins rolling one up. He's not planning on burning it now, but wants to have it for later. In his standard "cool uncle Duck" tone that may just be the reason Zipline doesn't like him, he responds, 
Shit, if i had snuck off to see some bubblegum drek like that, i'd have hid out in shame myself. For real, its not a big deal, Zip. Lenny was a wild one and the girls probably got that from him, wiz? Course, i done seen how you ride, so maybe they had it comin from both angles, huh? Listen, I'm ON fox island right now, playing some techmetal show as a favor to a friend. We go back on in about 20 minutes, play one more set for about an hour. After that, i was planning on getting zenned to beJEEZUS, but instead, I'm gonna hop in the truck, head over near the venue, and see what i can see, wiz? I'll holler at ya when i know something.

As he thinkspeaks to Zipline, he mentally does some math in his head. Ok, Deen weighs about two fifty, maybe three hundred. She's had about 6 vodka rocks so far tonight and i'm pretty sure she wants me to chill with her and her people after the show... Hmmmm...How fucked am i when I tell her i gotta bounce?

[Tenlaar]

Drek, at least it's better than stealing something...

"Ok chummer.  I'll see what I see at the bridge.  But what makes ya think these bikers are snatching kids? Just what kind of operation am I nosin' around here?"

[SlowDeck]

Trance smiled at the message.

Well, at least I get to have work.

>>You're a lifesaver! On my way now.

Trance stood, stretched to remove some of the stiffness from sitting so long. picked a bouncer nearby who wasn't busy, and promptly walked up to him, careful to make her approach both obvious and slow so as to not be an obvious danger or attract attention. Once at the troll, she says, "Excuse me, sir. I apologize for interrupting you, but Mini Boom sent me. He said I should talk to Andy."

[Celtibero]

While Caroline was setting up her grid connection "upgrade" the line was moving fast, faster than she thought at fist, Geez, just kick his butt already! loud -mouth baka! she thought while her turn was coming faster and faster, the line in front of her shortening by the minute.

You puny ass squishy breeder pup ready to get schooled by the champ here?, it was loud, it was arrogant but even Kitty had to hand it to him, the trog was not half bad at it. Yeah well, lets see if you can walk the talk replied Caroline.

Seemingly it was even handed, but that was just an illusion, 30s into the game, the trodes and jacks cables connecting to the device, the trideo showing the action that was happening, and it was presumably pretty even, maybe the ork was just testing the waters but what follwed can only be described as a ass whooping.

AH! Breeder pups are no match for the champ here! NEXT! Yelled the ork, Kitty just turned her back to him, clearing the space for another challenger only muttering Baka! in a manner that can only be described as weak.

Retrieving her Cosmo she took a last glance at the trideo blaring with the new challenger going down fast, her wallet 5 NuYen lighter for the effort. Waitaminute! if the damn bridge is locked... sitting tight? Samantha...drek! calling up the search tool in her AR display she quickly introduced a search pattern to grab what intel she could about the bridge event. matrix search sponsored by NeoNET she grinned at the thought, her pride quickly burying the recent memory of the utter defeat faster than you say drek!

//text message to Janice: Janice, can you look after Sam a while longer? island closed, ill send you a message as soon as i can, thanks, owe you another one.// Her thought to text software working like a charm.

Now to know what happened

//set search parameters//
//fox bridge AND explosion//
//fox bridge AND Knight errant AND witnesses//
//fox bridge AND real situation//

matrix search - limit [5]: 3#9d6t5 2 4 1

[reyjinn]

While Slim sat and waited for his 'audience' he tried to rack his brain about the little info Joe had offered him.  What gangs work out of Fox Island? Are any of them known for doing snatchings of this kind?
Seattle Gangs Turf Knowledge: 9d6t5 3
Seattle Gangs Knowledge: 7d6t5 2

[kalarin]

@Slim
You know The Mongrel's are the largest gang operating on Fox Island, having recently driven Devil's Cut from the turf. This area is hotly contested, as Fox Island is a great stopover for smuggling operations and the Mongrel's enforce a cut on all operations.

They aren't known to traffic children, usually focusing on weapons and drugs. Recently their numbers have been growing and you've have heard rumours that they recently acquired some pretty hefty hardware. You also know their old leader Slash has had been killed, though you aren't sure who's running the show now.

You mull over the information, waiting for your meet with Andy. You think about payback you'd like to dish out to that troll, though you know you'd be in hot water if anything serious breaks out. As your patience wears thin, the door opens, that damn troll is back. He leads a girl inside, she takes a seat opposite you "Make nice until the boss is ready for you" he says before closing the door.

Drek, who's this? You eye up the newcomer...

@Duckdown
You end your call with Zipline, she even thanks you before she hangs up, she MUST be really worried.

You decide to down another tequila shot, "Yo, Duck, we're back on in 2" Carl, the singer yells before heading back toward the stage. You straighten up, heeding out to finish the remainder of your set. Damn it feels good to be performing in front of a crowd again.

Another tight set and a couple of encores later, you find yourself out back, Deen brings round of shots out back "Tight set boys" she smiles, walking over to you, handing you a shot. You down it quickly before Deen slams you in to wall, hard. Moving closer she speaks, you smell the vodka on her breath "Let's settle with Andy then roll, yeah Sweetie?" she winks.

Drek...

@Cheshire
"Eyes and ears in many places mon." He taps his nose. "But none available wid your abilities to take a closer look. Several parents of de kids dat have kids missin pooled their resources, I be guessing they wouldn't put up the nuyen for fun. De Mongrels had a change in leadership, new guys a nasty, nasty fella. Wouldn't surprise me if he be snatcin dem for the nuyen. De old leader was a hard bastard, but he kept away from de kids."

You the the feeling that while Andy is shady, he does genuinely seems to care there are kids missing. As you ponder your options there's a knock at the door. One of the trolls pops his head in "Boss" he says "I got two in room three, want to see em now? One's from Mini Boom, I recognise the other guy, Slim, shady reputation that one…" Andy laughs "Everyone have a shady reputation here" Andy strokes his chin in thought "Find out their skills. Looks like dis island going to be locked down a while." The troll leaves the room, Andy drums his fingers on the desk "So how bout it? Take a look yah?"

@Trance
The troll grunts in acknowledgement as you approach. You saw what happened to the last chummer that touched him. Not interested in being manhandled you approach VERY cautiously. You speak, he eyes you for a second before responding. "Mini Boom? Little bastard moves fast" He take you out back, down the hallway. several paintings are hanging on the wall, you notice one, a tall, lanky, european, jamacian looking fellow and two ridiculously large pit bulls, one on each side. Drek, you think. Wouldn't want to come face to face with those… He opens one of the side doors, motioning inside. As you enter you see another occupant seated in one of the chairs. "Make nice until the boss is ready for you" you look across the table, it's the same guy that nearly lost an arm earlier. You hear the door shut as he leaves.

You eye the person across from you nervously. Who the drek is this?

@Kitty Nursing your ego, you walk away from the arcade a little annoyed. A little more practice and you think you'd school that fool. You hear the ork in the background laughing "Come back when you got some real skill love!"

Downing your drink in a gulp, it's not long before Janice replies.

>>Incoming Message
   >>Contact: Janice
      >>Sure thing sweetie, things are schway here, take your time

You sigh with relief, you always worry about Samantha and hate leaving her too long. With that out of the way, you're back on the grid, deftly browsing though pages and pages of articles, video, you browse to several local BBS boards scouring for information.

Multiple news sites are reporting a gas leak, causing the explosion Fox Island Boat Ramp. You dig deeper, trying to find more information, it seems that the bridge has been closed until further notice.

You struggle to find anything on the Knight Errand presence. Articles and video all mention them on the scene, though little else other than they are questioning several witnesses.

After a little more scouring you DO find a BBS for a local boat club. They had a meeting today, planning to take out several vessels. The wife of one of the captains has replied, saying she had a call from her husband and that he'd been asked to stick around for questioning. It's the last anyone has heard from them. You search more, it seems there are no first hand accounts, only what you can find from various news groups. Strange….

You find nothing online that contradicts a gas explosion.