[Volker]

"Goddammit," Mac mutters under his breath.
Slowly the excitement begins to wear off, but still he can't just lie back and watch some trid shows the whole day. He checks his gun. Not that he really knew how to use it, let alone how to check it. Once that's done, he collects the little gear he has - basically not more than he wears - and sighs. He hates to wait - he's been waiting way too long.

He lazily puts on his trodes and kills an hour or so in some trid game, but today it won't distract him. He tries some porn, too, but today it's not going to do the trick. So, finally he decides to do, what always calms him. Thanking life for the thousandth time for granting him this power, he again changes into his idol and circles the forests near Fort Lewis. He knows, in theory, if your shape changes, your mind does not. And yet, and yet it does something to you. The animal instict, whether truly there or just some psychological condition you trick yourself into, slowly takes over as the landscape spreads beneath you, as you feel the air beneath your wings and fully merge into your totem's way and style of life. He's always loath to give this up, and it will never, ever get boring to stay in this shape for hours.

There's this one bad thing: Crows don't carry watches and you lose time too easily. That's why he returns way to early, and has again to kill some AIs in order to kill some time, before Mac finally, finally dresses and takes the bus to Tacoma.

[Imveros]

Sterling

Amber smiles and laughs as Sterling talks, "You mean Charlene?! She's a huge flirt, but you're not really her type. She likes 'em a little rough around the edges.  She's been dating some guy from The Underground, but I haven't met him yet."

"I don't really have a secret, but I did find this new Urban Combat class which has been kicking my ass!  The guy is a total hard ass.  Some ex-Wildcat and he's been putting us through the paces.  I've never been so sore!  But it gets results.", she says as she reaches over and breaks off half a donut.

"Biz in Tacoma, huh?  You know who?"

"Just my luck eh? Oh well, plenty of krill in the sea they say... Wait did you say ex-Wildcat? Wasn't that the guy we met at that party a few months ago? Choreographed some stunts for a trid you were working on if i remember. You can never trust a man a party with a glass of water in his hand. Still, i think those abs of his could deflect a bullet. Might have to give that water stuff a try some day"

Sterling leans back and takes a big bite of his second danish

"You hit the nail on the head though. Never could get anything past you. I'll be meeting Mr Johnson at some place called The Hangar. You ever hear of it? Never been there before myself, but it would be nice if you knew a little about the place, or even know a friendly face there" 

[RagallachMC]

Sterling

"Yea, that's the guy.  Like I said, he's a total hard ass.  He still does the water thing. He thinks alcohol is 'a tool the Anglos use to oppress us'. Whatever.  He takes their nuyen when they sign up for his class, though."

"The Hangar?", she says, pausing to think, "that's the place with the plane on top, right?  I haven't been in there in years.  I think the guy that owns it is an ex Fed-Boeing test pilot.  Foods decent."  She pauses again, thinking, "I don't know anybody there that I can think of. Seems like a strange place for your types to do biz.  It's all wageslaves and their broods in that place."

[Shrazkil]

Jobs are just what he needs to keep his mind off more depressing things. He finishes his freshly cooked cuisine, always a guilty pleasure,then Aegis gears up and prepares for the encounter with a new contact.

[Volker]

MacC arrives at the hangar 35 minutes too early, not trusting the busses to be there in time and not willing to kill more Nazis in his online game.

MacC is as tall as 1.22 (more ore less exactly 4 ft) and rather skinny. But since he’s wearing wide clothes, his exact figure can only be guessed.
The Dwarf’s face is slim, unlike his fleshy nose, and his chin is pointy enough to poke your eye out (assuming your eyes are at 3 ft 6“ height). Normally, MacC’s face is neatly shaven.

Despite the fact that he’s no older than 22 or 23, there are already small wrinkles around his eyes, and his eyebrows are rather bushy. Although he seems a little grumpy sometimes, taken as a whole he is a very charming person (yep, that’s deliberately ambiguous ^^). His voice is a deep and strong bass, his gace is strong, but not intense in a rude way. He is very self-confident, and every movement, every glance, every word indicates he’s determined.

Today, the Dwarf‘s wearing a black T-shirt displaying a really daft looking cartoon elf with protruding ears, holding a dandelion between his sheepishly grinning teeth. And a fleshy hand, pointing a gun at his head. Over this shirt, he’s wearing a black lined coat with an very broad collar. The coat is a little bit too long for MacC: it stretches over his knees and covers half of his big hands. The wide dark sleeves give the impression of wings when he stretches his arms. Mac’s wearing sneakers and a simple necklace with a metallic pendant displaying a raven’s head.

Astrally Perceiving, MacC pushes open the door and shoots a glance into the room. After re-checking his commlink-clock, he sighs and walks over to the bar. "Do you have a hardcopy menu, please?"

[Imveros]

Sterling

"Yea, that's the guy.  Like I said, he's a total hard ass.  He still does the water thing. He thinks alcohol is 'a tool the Anglos use to oppress us'. Whatever.  He takes their nuyen when they sign up for his class, though."

"The Hangar?", she says, pausing to think, "that's the place with the plane on top, right?  I haven't been in there in years.  I think the guy that owns it is an ex Fed-Boeing test pilot.  Foods decent."  She pauses again, thinking, "I don't know anybody there that I can think of. Seems like a strange place for your types to do biz.  It's all wageslaves and their broods in that place."

"Yeah its not my type of place either, but maybe that's why he picked it. Keep everyone on their toes, watch us squirm. Still at least isn't some goblin rock biker bar. Suits i can handle, trolls on kamikaze that want to arm wrestle the breeder, not so much... "

Sterling rotates his shoulder in its socket with a wince at the memory

"What about you? Any current projects you shooting?"

[RagallachMC]

Dave

The bus finally arrives in Redmond and the ragtag group of passengers boards.  The bus is only half full, so there's plenty of seats to choose from. 

The next 3 hours are spent riding in various busses or waiting for said busses to appear.  Redmond to Downtown.  Downtown to Tacoma. And finally, from downtown Tacoma out to a bus stop by the Port of Tacoma.  It's 4:35 and its a 15 minute walk from this stop to The Hangar.

Sterling

Amber takes a sip of coffee and sighs at your question, "Nothing right now.  A couple of auditions I'm waiting to hear back on.  My agent thinks I should move back to Cheyenne.  Thinks maybe there might be better roles for me there.  I think he's a moron. I left the NAN to get into more mainstream trids.  Why would I go back?", She looks almost whimsical, "Besides I like it here.  Seattle has a great vibe and a great scene.  I don't think I could go back to sleepy old Cheyenne".  She says the last with a smile.

[Imveros]

Sterling

Amber takes a sip of coffee and sighs at your question, "Nothing right now.  A couple of auditions I'm waiting to hear back on.  My agent thinks I should move back to Cheyenne.  Thinks maybe there might be better roles for me there.  I think he's a moron. I left the NAN to get into more mainstream trids.  Why would I go back?", She looks almost whimsical, "Besides I like it here.  Seattle has a great vibe and a great scene.  I don't think I could go back to sleepy old Cheyenne".  She says the last with a smile.

"Yeah i hear you. I left there for a reason as well. Too much focus on the traditions and not enough on just living. Seattle is a place where you can live. I mean just look around just this place. We have some dock workers over there eating some omelets, next to two KE bike cops eating jelly donuts, next to that rather surly looking razor boy over there. There isn't a place in Cheyenne i ever saw with so many different types in one place more or less getting along!"

Sterling finishes up his danish and take a long pull off his caf

"Not to mention the foods a lot better here too"

Sterling's face sours a little

"The old emerald city may have her ups and downs but no one can say life here is boring. Everyone needs a little excitement to keep the juices flowing. Maybe there would be a few less of us out here if the elders back home understood that"

[RagallachMC]

Sterling

"They don't get it, and I don't know if they ever will.", she says.  "I'm proud of my heritage and what my people have accomplished in the last century, but it just feels so small sometimes.  This", she says gesturing around the shop, "feels so much more natural to me than all the bulldrek back home.  It doesn't really matter.  I'm here to stay.", she says with a smile.

"So what time is your meet with Mr. Johnson?", she asks, lowering her voice slightly. "Is it really like we make it out in the trids?  It seems really exciting."

[8-bit]

"Arigato, Nikki. Who knows what I would do without you? Take care." Binary closes the call.

Well, things are looking up, another job is on it's way. It's been far too long; he's just been spending his nights drinking at the local bar. Speaking of which, he didn't remember driving home last night. Binary gets up and quickly checks his stuff. Nothing seems to be missing. I can only imagine what they'll say when I go back.

With a thought, he brings up the local time. 11:15 shows in his vision. Well, seems the hangover wasn't too bad. He brings up his deck utilities.

|| Renraku Tsurugi Cyberdeck - Unit 31-02E-A5 ||

<< ...Awaiting assignment of processing space... >>

At the speed of thought, he quickly customizes his deck. He shouldn't need to do any hacking yet, so he focuses on speed and security.

Attack - 3
Sleaze - 5
Data Processing - 6
Firewall - 5

-- Assignment Confirmed --

<< ...Program Slots are Open... >>

Well, I need to get ready for the meet. Let's see if this Agent was worth it.

Browse, Signal Scrub, Agent

-- Programs Confirmed --

<< ...Booting up Programs... >>


"How may I be of assistance?"

A nondescript figure greets Binary's vision. He commands, "Do a search on this location <<Attached information>>. I want to know everything that's public on it, and then some."

Satisfied that his Agent will do the work, Binary takes a quick shower. He's surprised when the Agent responds rather quickly. He checks the time again. Maybe 5 minutes had gone by. Damn, I'm liking this thing already.

"Show me what you got."

The Agent quickly compiles together a list of the information it found. Binary swiftly reads through it. Family place, guess I shouldn't dress too outlandishly. Looks like they have good stuff to drink too. Sounds good already. He reads through the second list; the information that wasn't available to the general public. This Agent was nice and organized. Huh, nothing out of the ordinary. Seems like as good a place to meet as any.

"Thank you. Dismissed."

The Agent nods and shrinks back into an inactive mode, just an icon on his deck. Binary decides to dress himself casually, just jeans and a T-shirt, and cowboy boots, can't forget those. He's got time to kill; the meet isn't until 6 PM. Guess I should make sure I actually came home with everything.

He spends a couple of hours checking out his place, everything seems to be in order.

Bored, he spends some time looking up some information on old technology. It was fascinating; they used to have these things called "phones" that only made calls! You couldn't even surf the "internet" as it used to be called. You had to get a large, immobile computer that had less operating capacity than the cheapest Meta Link, just to access anything. And you had to use something called a "mouse" and a "keyboard" to input commands, and it was limited to a screen. No AR, no VR, nothing. Perhaps it was useless knowledge, but it constantly fascinated Breeze that people could function without so much stuff that he took for granted.

He lost track of time, and the sun was starting to sink in the sky. He checked the time: 4:30 He wanted to get to the meet a little early, if only to sample their selection of beers. Shit, I gotta go. Like now. Putting his holster in his boot, and his gun in his holster, Binary walks out the door. He makes sure everything is locked, he was in a good neighborhood, but you never knew, and brought out his Suzuki Mirage. Quickly double-checking his route to make sure he knows where he is going, he drives off.

[Raven Runner]

Dave

The bus finally arrives in Redmond and the ragtag group of passengers boards.  The bus is only half full, so there's plenty of seats to choose from. 

The next 3 hours are spent riding in various busses or waiting for said busses to appear.  Redmond to Downtown.  Downtown to Tacoma. And finally, from downtown Tacoma out to a bus stop by the Port of Tacoma.  It's 4:35 and its a 15 minute walk from this stop to The Hangar.

Dave squeezes of the bus and glances around to get her barrings, then lumbers off towards the Hanger.  Once she finds the place she takes a look around, notes any security features, and then wanders off in search of a park or piece of sidewalk where a troll can take a nap in relative peace.

[RagallachMC]

Dave

The area around The Hangar is mostly made up of small businesses.  Soykaf shops, laundromats, auto and boat repair shops.  On your walk you also passed a Loco Foods, aStuffer Shack and a few mid to low level hotels that must cater to people doing business at the Port.  You also pass a Knight Errant station which is separated by a small wall from the rest of the neighborhood. 

The Hangar itself sits off the street surrounded by a small parking lot.  The building itself is fairly large and is covered in corrugated aluminum sheeting.  The same material they use on airplane hangars.  Sitting on top of the building is an old propeller plane painted bright red.  A neon sign, currently not on, verifies that this is The Hangar.

Dave looks at the restaurant from the sidewalk, but doesn't notice any body scanners or other security devices.

Wandering back down the street, Dave finds a small park area that even has a couple benches.  It looks like a nice place to grab a nap.

[RagallachMC]

Mac

You arrive at The Hangar and it appears as it did from your bird's eye view.  It's early, so there are only a few cars parked in the lot.  You step through the door and into the restaurant.

The restaurant continues the aeronautical theme on the inside.  The floor is rubberized diamond plate and the walls are painted a plain white.  Not much of the walls can be seen, however as they are covered from ceiling to floor in all manner of photos, models and other aeronautical memorabilia. 

Mac takes a moment to look into the Astral and sees...nothing.  The place looks totally mundane. 

He walks towards the bar area and takes a seat.  The bartender is an older looking Ork dressed in a white shirt and black tie.  'Good evening, sir.', he says with a smile.  When Mac asks for a menu, he reaches under the bar and produces a faux leather menu and places it on the bar in front of Mac.  "Let me know if you have any questions, sir.", and then he goes back to setting up his bar.

[RagallachMC]

Binary

Binary navigates his Mirage through the traffic of Tacoma and arrives at The Hangar at 5:40.



Aegis

Aegis pulls his Growler into the parking lot of The Hangar at 5:50.

[Imveros]

Sterling

"They don't get it, and I don't know if they ever will.", she says.  "I'm proud of my heritage and what my people have accomplished in the last century, but it just feels so small sometimes.  This", she says gesturing around the shop, "feels so much more natural to me than all the bulldrek back home.  It doesn't really matter.  I'm here to stay.", she says with a smile.

"So what time is your meet with Mr. Johnson?", she asks, lowering her voice slightly. "Is it really like we make it out in the trids?  It seems really exciting."

"Honestly the last thing you want is for things to get exciting. Nice and boring with a pay day is what I always hope for. I'm no Ace Holt. If your name isn't in bold print at the start of the trid, there is no guarantee that exciting ends well for you. Still I'm no slouch. One of the perks of being a pro is you get to work with other pros. You don't need to worry about old sterling here. With any luck tonight will be nothing like the trids and I'm fine with the lack of quadruple triple double crosses and slow motion, high yield explosives set to syth rock."

"Still it's about time to head on out. Have to get psyched up. I will let you know if anything trid worthy happens"

Sterling settles up the check and rises up out of the booth

Doksa ake waunkte *I will see you again later.*

Sterling walks towards the exit and looks over towards Chip at the counter

"You take care of the nice lady over there you hear me? Anything she wants, just put it on my tab."

Sterling looks back toward Amber

"Its the least i can do for draging you all the way out here"

Sterling discharges another one of his patented million watt smiles and heads out to the parking lot, jumps into his car and heads off towards the hanger

Well here i go again. With any luck things will go half as smooth as i told Amber they would.