[Imveros]

Dave

As the group sorts out a plan Dave weighs in at some point...

"Um, yeah...so at some point I might need to grab my bow...which is sorta actually in the Barrens right now."  Dave grins, then continues.  "Wasn't expecting a rush job I guess and it's not too popular on the bus...any way I can certainly roll with out it but it does pack a nice punch.  Maybe we can roll that way at some point?"  Dave looks hopeful, but unsure, and she is still happy to roll with the group until she gets a good chance to grab her bow and other gear from her loft.

The car pulls out of the hanger and expertly guides itself onto the highway as Sterling pulls out his pistol, checks the slide, and loads it with the gel rounds

Well a promise is a promise. Mr Johnson is going to get every penny's worth out of me

Sterling re-holsters his weapon, his eyes never on the road

"Dave we talkin Puyallup or Redmond here? We may be able to swing by the former, but if its the later I'm afraid your SOL chummer. Just to show you no hard feelings, i do have a another gun in the trunk. It's a little flashy, but im going to guess that's your style anyway. Or we could always swing by a weapons world here in Tacoma. We have 5k each to prep for this, maybe binary can tell us which location has the better outdoors man section?

As the car pulls up to the last bite Sterling notices the looks his ride is getting

"Dave can you do me a solid here? We need to show these gents that a fancy car isn't worth messing with us if you catch my drift. "

Sterling exits the car and shoots a glare over at the street toughs while moving his coat aside to show the machine pistol and gesturing towards Dave before confidently moving into the last bite

[RagallachMC]

The toughs on the corner look Sterling up and down and then seem to step back a bit when Dave unfolds herself from the car.  They lose interest in Sterling and his car for some reason.

The Last Bite is similar inside as it looked from outside.  It's not very big, maybe 15 tables and a small bar area.  It's also fairly dark in here.  Only a couple of spotlights over the bar and a few tables and red string lights tacked to the low ceiling.   Dave's head almost scrapes along the low ceiling.  The place is loud too.  There's a good crowd at the bar and they're talking and laughing loudly.  The bartender seems to be the center of it.  A Dwarf with a huge red beard who is slinging drinks and tossing out comments to all the patrons as he does so.  You cant really hear what he's saying, but it's making everyone at the bar burst out laughing.  Most of the tables seem occupied.

While the runners are taking it in, a dwarf woman hustles up to them.  Her hair is the same bright red as the dwarf behind the bar and you can see some runic tattoos running down the side of her neck and down under her shirt.  She looks you all over, "4 of you, then?  I got a table in the back corner that should work for you." and she leads you towards the back of the restaurant to a small round 'table'.  It's not really a table but an old wooden cable spool turned on its side.  The chairs around the table look similarly cobbled together.  She gestures for you all to sit, but stops Dave before she sits.  "Hold on a second, I've got a better seat for you", and she walks away briefly returning with a large, troll sized chair which she swaps out with Dave's chair.  "That's better.", she says with a note of satisfaction.  "She makes a flicking gesture with her hands and an ARO opens up in front of each of you.  "Here's what we've got today.  I'd recommend the Porter to drink.  Flynn just tapped it today.  If you're hungry, the Corned Beast sandwich is the best around.  Ill be back in a second to take your order." and with that, she hustles away.

[Volker]

to Dave (before we leave)

"Right now it's only talking. I don't assume that we are followed right now since we're just dealing with drug dealers. The chance that they're paranoid enough to follow every family activist are pretty low. Anyway, they didn't attack us now, so I assume it's safe to eat your sandwich without the bow. You can grab it still before we go into action.
Erm. Why do you use a bow? There's a lot of, uhm, invention, that, you know, were invented, over the last 600 years."

to Binary (after we've arrived)

Not it's MacC's turn to flash a smile. "I do, but I try to avoid being seen doing so. It freaks people out, you know. I guess they don't want to be a Dwarf higher than they are.
But that's exactly why I'd like to have some chit-chat before we start. I want you to know what I can do, and more important, I want to know what you guys can do. Otherwise, we can't cooperate in a sensible way. "

[Imveros]

"Corned beast sandwich? Sounds like a challenge to me. I'll take a porter and a corned beast then. Thanks"

Sterling waits for the other to place their orders before continuing.

"Well now come the important part gentlemen, and lady. How do we crack this particular nut?"

Sterling looks around at the assembled bar patrons

"Maybe we should make this conversation a bit more private first though"

Sterling blinks a few times before an ARO pops in front of all of your visions

Sterling has invited you to a conference, 1/4 callers are currently connected, Connect? [Yes]/[No]

[Volker]

"I'll take a blonde and a soybeef one."

"Maybe we should make this conversation a bit more private first though"

Sterling blinks a few times before an ARO pops in front of all of your visions

Mac (who obviously has no datajack and doesn't wear any trodes) seems a little puzzled. "Yeah, sure. I think if we just walk in the corner over there I guess we won't be overheard."

He briskly walks over to the indicated place, looking back for the rest of the team to follow.

[8-bit]

At the mention of food, Binary realizes he hasn't eaten all day. Oops.

"Corned Beast, you say?" Binary's eyebrow raises in suspicion. "I think I'll try something a little less mysterious."

He takes a look at the rest of the menu. One catches his eye, and he immediately decides that's what he wants.

"I'll have the barbecue soybeef sandwich. Porter sounds good too."

As the waitress walks away to put their orders in, Sterling speaks up.

"Well now come the important part gentlemen, and lady. How do we crack this particular nut?"

He pauses a moment before adding.

"Maybe we should make this conversation a bit more private first though"

With that, an ARO pops up in Binary's vision. Binary mentally selects "Yes" and sees that he and Sterling are the only two in it.

<<@Sterling [Binary] I don't think MacC has an Image Link, and Dave doesn't strike me as very technical, so I don't think this is going to work.>>

[Imveros]

<<@Binary [Sterling] Hard to believe believe there are still people around not using the trix. Guess he must be a stickler for tradition>>

Sterling looks once more over to the waitress

"We will take that booth in the corner there. My big friend here will take the roast beast as well and a pitcher of Omae Lite to wash it down. She is watching her girlish figure after all"

Sterling gives Dave a coy wink, moves over to the table, and sits with his back to the crowd

So what do you guys know about the local drug landscape? I cant say I'm a stranger to recreational pharmaceuticals, but i can remember the last time actually had to buy them myself. I have a friend in the smuggling business, but this is probably out of his wheel house. I'm not above hitting the street either if that's our only option. I'd just rather not go in totally blind.

[8-bit]

<<@Binary [Sterling] Hard to believe believe there are still people around not using the trix. Guess he must be a stickler for tradition>>

<<@Sterling [Binary] I know, strange, right? Not that I haven't worked with the kind before, but still, it is sometimes hard to believe.>>

The waitress smiles at Sterling's joke and directs them towards the booth. Once everyone is situated, Sterling speaks up,

So what do you guys know about the local drug landscape? I cant say I'm a stranger to recreational pharmaceuticals, but i can remember the last time actually had to buy them myself. I have a friend in the smuggling business, but this is probably out of his wheel house. I'm not above hitting the street either if that's our only option. I'd just rather not go in totally blind.

"Aye, been a while since I've had to hit the streets for anything. Give me a minute, I can see if I can drag up any public info from the Matrix, but no promises. Stuff like this is probably pretty well hidden, and likely won't show up on a general search."

[Imveros]

"What about you Mac? Do you have any angles you can play? Any friends in low places, or any wuju that may shed some light on the problem? Even if you don't, Dave still has all of this under control right chummer?"

Dave glares at Sterling wondering what she wants more, the food to arrive or for sterling to stop cracking wise

While binary here does his thing let me make a few calls before the food gets here.

Sterling's eyes dart back and forth rapidly as if he is reading things in quick succession

<<@Domino [Sterling] You have a moment Omae? Got a bit of a problem here. Even if you cant solve it, hoping you might be able to clue me into someone who can. Thanks>>

[Volker]

MacC has been sitting in thought and listening for a couple of ticks, oblivious of the electronic exchange of messages. When he's adressed, he knits his eyebrows. "Unfortunately - or happily - I have no contact with the drug scene, let alone BTL scene.

"What I can do, however, is to observe unseen. I have a number of possibilities to find stuff out without being noticed. I guess, one first step should be to check Mr. Johnson's adresses."

He looks around. "I guess, if asking some regular BTL dealer would help anyone out, Mr. J would not have to spend a fortune on a group of pros. So, while it would be silly not to try, I don't expect to get anything from regular connections.

What might also prove useful is to check out some hospitals or clinics, that is, shadow clinics. At least some of the addicts might have been brought somewhere, and the staff might know some things. But the hottest trace will be the three contacts, I guess.

What say you?"

[Imveros]

Sterling looks distracted as the rapid eye movements continue

"Sorry I'm a little distracted. I'm throwing a few feelers out myself, and Binary there still seems to be surfing the trix himself. Sadly its looking like knocking on doors is going to be our only option soon. Still waiting on another call back though. With any luck fortune will smile upon us. I'd hate to hit the pavement blind

Sterling does a double take for a moment.

"Wait you said observing without being seen? I recall you saying something about being a shaman back at the hanger. What kind of mojo you got hiding under those sleeves of yours? I only ask cause its hard to tell the difference between trid magic and the real deal. Going to go out on a limb and say you can't blow up buildings in slow motion while sythrock plays?"

[Volker]

MacC smiles, then shakes his head. "No blowin' up no buildings, omae. Most stuff I'd do would look pretty boring on a trid screen, I guessm tough getting ripped apart by a Wolf spirit is an event you're unlikely to forget. Has anyone ever worked with a magician before?"
Mac raises an eyebrow in expectation. This problem is not a new one: People imagine the weirdest stuff when they hear you're a shaman, then they find out it's wrong and soon after they'll find out that some of what they believed actually is true and that's when you got them confused entirely.

"Before I get to my strength - and observation is one of them - I will put my weakness plainly. I'm not good at fighting, at least not when I'm unprepared. Give me proper time and I guess I can take out a strike team single-handedly - that is, if you geek the mage. But if we're surprised I have to get the drek out of the line of fire, or I'm very soon your dead shaman.

I do have three possibilities to observe some place unseen. First is, I send a spirit there. Keeps us out of the shooting line but you've never been there in real, and I have to admit that I love to see things with my own eyes. Second possibility is a little better: A shaman can leave his mortal shell, emerging into the world of spirits. I can travel pretty much anywhere, though what I see, is ... That's always the difficult part. To keep it simple, I can't see everything, and I can see more, and from time to time this is the most useful - and beautiful - way to see things. I'd be happy to try and put it in words, but I learned that most shadowrunners are only interested as to what it comes down. And it pretty much comes down to that reading street signs is impossible from the astral space.

Then there is possibility number three, and I figure, this might be the most interesting one. Crow grants me the power to take the shape of birds and beasts, first and foremost the crow itself. I can observe any place with my real eyes in my real body and most people wouldn't suspect a crow to be hunting BTL dealers."
Then MacC flashes a smirk and winks. "And I guess, I could take a passenger."

[RagallachMC]

The dwarf waitress comes back after a few minutes and plops the drinks down in front of you.  A porter for Sterling and Binary, a blond for Mac and a red ale for Dave.  "I'll be back in a few minutes with your food.", she says smiling professionally before hurrying away.

[8-bit]

Binary flicks swiftly through his deck utilities, sending out searches and code for information.

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

/search "BTL", "BTLs", "Tacoma", "New BTLs"

-- Agent Booted --

"Search for any information about new BTL's around Tacoma."

The Agent nodded and disappeared from view.

After quickly shuffling through useless data, Binary found something interesting. Binary had been vaguely listening. Something about magic and mojo and turning into a crow. While that was a new one, it wasn't the strangest thing he'd ever heard. He looked at his companions.

"Here's what I got. Not much turned up, I didn't expect it to, but I got a short clip of some kids referencing "Mingyun". It seems to be a name for a BTL, and get this, it's geotagged for Tacoma. I might be able to dig for more later, but that could take hours. Whoever is running this has it buried deep, I only got lucky because kids these days share anything and everything about their lives."

He thanks the waitress for the drink before turning back to his companions. "I have a contact who might be able to help, but he might not. BTL's are a little out of his territory. Any scouting you can do MacC would be great, that way I can focus my search down a bit."

[Volker]

"Mingyun, huh? Doesn't sound Japanese to me, and I do speak a little Japse. Is it Chinese?

I guess this is our hottest lead. Normally I'd have said, it'd be better first to do the intel, then go there physically, but if we now wait for hours it's morning and we lose the day. So here's what I suggest:
Someone get me a good description of the way to our three sweethearts plus map plus satellite pictures. I will go there astrally which should not take long, and see what I can see. In the end, I might even see more than my mundane eyes could see. You know, the whole Gaia sph-"
He interrupts himself. Not that any of them would care about it anyway.
He insteads clears his throat and goes on.

"With this first impression, you, Binary, try and narrow down your search for, what's its name? Something like minigun. Tomorrow in the morning, we meet again, you get us updated, and then we'll see what our next step will be.

By the way, Sterling, what is it you're being hired for? I understand you're quite a Prince Charming, but apart from that? Gunslinger? Infiltrator?"