[Landmine]

Red is quiet for a few moments, mulling over Khali's words. "I'll be honest, I don't even know where to begin with something like that. I deal with the metahuman element. Whatever that was is so far out of my element it's insane."

She pauses for a while, but when she speaks again she sounds a little more collected, the initial shock beginning to wear down. I guess I could get talking to some talismongers or something, see if they've heard anything about critters or spirits or something on the loose. Someone has to know something."

"I honestly don't know where to start either. So we'll both hit everyone we can think of in the morning, then see where we're at... Look, I don't blame you if you don't want to finish this job. But I'm going to be here tomorrow night, then I'm going to find that thing and finish it. If I don't see you tomorrow, no hard feelings."

[Triskavanski]

"I don't have anywhere to be.. I just live where I am. As long as its away from that creature I'll be better Not alright. Never alright. Not with that thing. Not one bit. She knew nothing she could do was going to help, so in order to live she'd have to use Arc and all the connections she could muster up..

[ismilealot]

@ Khali & Red  The rest of the night passes as uneventfully as it can here in the sprawl. Towards morning you hear the sirens coming to the scene. Yeah, it's to little far to late. KE doesn't ride here at night. Ever. And so far they only thing they've done in this case is arrest people because they were in the area at the time..

@ Masquerade, Arachnid & Duckdown  Eventually the night passes and morning comes with it's pale light .     

@ Feathers  The spirit nods and then begins a slow sweeping scan. A half hour later when you arrive at Nbungus shop the spirit is still following the trail, but as far as you can tell the trail leads into the earth. (edit: The detectives name is Fallon.)

@ Arc  You drive slowly back, passing the site where you saw Masquerade dangling in the air and go on to the site where 'Rack went berserk against an enemy only he seemed able to see. So far so good. A drunk staggers out onto the street oblivious to the car that needed to brake hard and swerve to avoid him. That's a good sign, maybe things are ok, maybe whatever that thing was, it was no more than an illusion put out there by some sicko who was laughing at their reactions right now. Yeah, definitely a sicko. When morning comes you'll all laugh at this. Yeah.               
          You turn the car to the right, so that you can make the block and finally point the car home. And the lights paint the bodies pinned to the wall. Four of them, including one little ork girl with a horrible smile on her face, and a far worse one across her throat. And as Arc watches, a fat red drop slowly finishes its path down a dainty horn and falls to the ground, joining it's brethren on the cold pavement.  Arc is no stranger to murder, she was a part of the Howlers after all. But they kill in anger, or for money, they kill people just like themselves, not little girls that people have loved and been looking for all night.

[Csjarrat]

please monitor the trail's end, let me know if anything awakened appears but look after yourself, don't take unnecessary risks

Feathers pushed the heavy reinforced door open, feeling it slam against the cold air behind him.
The heady mixture of herbs and alchemical ingredients gave the place a tropical scent, every available space filled with plants and climbers.
He stashed his hats and gloves and shouted of Nbungu, hearing him banging about on the metal of the false mezzanine level above him

[SgtBoomCloud]

"Wiz. One love, Skraacha. If you or 'Rack need anything, holler at me."

Arc gave a nod, pausing for a bit to see the exchange between Zipline and Duckdown, biting her lip once the sobbing began.  The guilt sunk deeper into her heart as she turned away quickly, hitting the accelerator and zooming off.  The whole drive she was quiet, answering questions no more than a handful of words, doing her best to ignore the burning sensation around her eyes as the streets droned on.

It wasn't long before her Ford pulled up to Arachnid's home, and she turned back to glance at him.  "Hoi, get some rest, tonight was hell.  Call me when y'all got a lead on what the drek this thing is, aye?"  With a wink, she zoomed off again, turning to Raven with a nod.  "I'm gonna be honest, I all gots no ideas what the hell that thing is.  You say it marked you?  What, you Awakened too?  Tch, next thing, Duckdown'll be confessing to me too.  Frag, man..okay, Raven, y'all got a place you wanna be?  I'm going back to the place real quick, won't blame ya for stayin' behind"  Waiting for an answer, the human girl checked the time.  Fraaag, it's late...gonna be afternoon before I wake at the rate this be goin'....  Should the mysterious friend decide to get dropped off, she would head there with little exchange of words, dropping her off and heading back for the alleys of High Issaqua where the beasty was found.  If she opted to come along, no change.

The pass through the warehouse was quiet.  Eery, but quiet.  She kept scanning either side of the alleys, from the ground up to as high as she could see.  She almost missed the homeless drekker who stepped in front of her, swerving in a quick jerk of the wheel as she gave a shout.  Nerves on end, she considers lighting another smoke, but holds off.  She'll want to sleep eventually, after all.  Nearly finished, she rounded the corner, and screeched to a halt, jaw dropped at the sight before her:

Four bodies...one a tiny orkette.

She stood there, frozen in time as the grisly images of a demented mind burned into her cybernetic retinas, unable to fully comprehend at first to total gravity of the situation.  Mouth still hanging open, she parked the car, kept the headlights on, and stepped out of the vehicle, taking slow steps towards the scene.  She stared, taking in every detail, but she didn't need to ask Zip or Duck for visual confirmation she knew: that was Mel, the three-year-old girl they needed to find.  It was fresh, done tonight...they were right fraggin' there.  She gave a yell, holding her head and writhing a little where she stood, tears starting to come forth from her eyes as a wave of memories took hold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The home is on fire.  Gunshots.  Smoke.  Blood...other blood, my blood.
Father on the ground, eyes open, looking at me, mouth open, shocked. 
Mother, hurt but alive, big hands holding her, taking her.
"Run, Tessa.  Don't worry, sweetie, just run!"
...
Mommy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground, in a puddle of grimy water some five meters from the bodies.  Her shirt was soaked through, she seemed to have been writhing in it.  A sobbing mass of pain and guilt, she looked back up at the macabre display, distraught.  Duck was not going to be happy, and pissed because of how close they came.  And it was her fault they weren't there to save her.

Pulling up an ARO, she used her eyes to take pictures of the scene, as much as she didn't want to.  The thing that brought her back to reality, though, was the faint sound of sirens...  "...DREK!"  She was wearing her vest from her Howler days, and the Knight's Errant were already known for assumptions.  Diving back into her car, she zoomed off, heading away and for home, slowing down to normal limits once rejoining the main drag.

Once home, she through her sweatshirt into a pile in the garage, hanging the vest up halfheartedly.  Tears were still pooling under her eyes as she unholstered her Predator, putting it back under her pillow as she undressed, slumping back onto the bed.  Before deactivating her eyes and passing out in a fit of sobbing, she fired off a message to Duck, Arachnid, and Raven, sending the picture with it.

<<Send: Duckdown, Arachnid, Raven>>
<<Begin message>>
<<Don't open unless you're alone.  I'm sorry...everyone, I'm so so sorry...>>
<<Encoded Attachment: img.jpg>>

[Poindexter]

It's around 4:30 in the morning and Zip has finally finished crying herself to sleep, her head resting on Ducks lap. The two of them are sitting on the couch in her apartment on the ground floor of an extended stay motel, owned by her go gang. Duck just sits, blankly flipping channels on the trids and feeling uninterested in anything. Tired as fuck, too. But someone has to stay awake in case any information comes in. He's rebooted his comm maybe 6 times in the last hour, just making SURE he's getting his messages, but so far nothing has been coming in. He rounds the bend from channel 396 back to 002 again, beginning the circle anew for the god knows how many-th time when his message ARO pops up in his upper right field of view.

<<Send: Duckdown, Arachnid, Raven>>
<<Begin message>>
<<Don't open unless you're alone.  I'm sorry...everyone, I'm so so sorry...>>
<<Encoded Attachment: img.jpg>>

He stares at the message for a long time, the look on the little humans face. Just those two sentences. For what seems like an eternity, he considers opening the attached image. But he knows what it is. The heartbreak behind Arcs eyes tells him everything he needs to know. He closes the message without opening the attachment as he feels his blood start to run cold in his veins. Sitting there on the couch, stroking Ziplines hair while she sleeps, he begins laying out everything he needs to do in his head, piece by piece. First, there are messages that need to be sent, wheels that need to begin turning as soon as possible. There is research to be done. He fires up his goblin persona and begins.

<<Send Message: Deen
  <<Message: Hey, Vruken. Gotta bail on the show. Death in the family. Holler.>>

<<Send Message: Alonzo Sandoval
  <<Message: Emergency. Need to meet today. Holler.>>

<<Send Message: T-Ball
  <<Message: Homey, I need you. Gotta meet up face to face. VR hangout? Holler.>>

Then, it's off to the matrix, to search for ANY relevant news that might shed some light on just what the hell had been going on in the hood tonight. No sleep for me tonight. He thinks to himself as he continues running his hand through Zips hair, knowing that once she wakes up, things are going to be very different for her. This may be their last quiet moment together and Duck wants to enjoy it for as long as he can.

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  Nbungu looks over the rail of the false mezzanine and say's. "Ah, I got your message. But, I have a hard time believing it could be what you said it was." He seems reluctant to even talk about this subject. "Those practitioners know what it means to practice that abomination of magic. And I know that I do not carry any such supplies." (You hear the door chime signifying another customer.) He straightens then, proud of that fact. "If you want to find out more, perhaps a friend in the Tir may help you. The elves have researched magic more  extensively than anyone. Both light, and dark." His voice pitches down as he says the last part, and a memory crosses his eyes.

@ Duckdown  T-Ball messages you back. >>One luv homey. You know I'm here for you. Meet me at Blinkies at say 2:00 and we can talk then.<< As you search the Matrix the sprawl is full of reports of serial killings, and more than one sick SOB. But nothing coincides with what you know about this particular sick SOB. But, a cross-referencing check made regarding magical murders turns up an obscure reference about torture and blood magic and it's practice in Africa by shamans.

[SgtBoomCloud]

~~~~~~~~~The Next Morning~~~~~~~~~

The sunlight filtering in through the window stirred the distraught Arc, the girl shifting into wakefulness.  She slept that night, but it was a fitful sleep, fraught with frequent nightmares.  With a start, she sat up, her hair in a tangled mess about her.  Activating her eyes, she was relieved that the implants were sufficiently refreshed, no more burning to be felt.  But that relief was quickly replaced with grief as she recalled last night's events.  Sighing, she placed her head in her hands, slumping her shoulders as she leaned forward in her sitting position, fighting back the tears.  It was several moments before she slowly sat up, her face hardening.

"Aight...I can't do this...Duck deserves a better friend than this, I can do better..."  Flipping open her AR feed, she flipped through the morning ads hurriedly, checking for messages.  Nothing...no replies.  Either they're busy or didn't get them yet from sleeping.  Ho boy..  Haphazardly dressing in a tank and jeans, she clipped her Predator into the holster on her back, slipping her goggles about her forehead.   Her mind roiled as she departed for the garage, trying to think of how to get to the bottom of this crisis.  Remembering the car from yesterday, she grabbed the keys and absently left the building, rolling the damaged vehicle into her garage bay.  As she scanned the damage for a diagnostic report, she munched idly at a nutrisoy bar.

"hmm...wait, the drek am I doing...one of my customers' gotta know stuff.."  Flinging her ARO away, she hopped up on one counter, the car forgotten as she pulled up her past list of customers she's helped.  No...no...frag it, filtering out Howlers...no...Arachnid, I know he knows what I know....hmm...maybe...

She curled her lips into a small grin, pulling up one customer: a human named Red.  Owned a Growler she fixed, tipped well.  "Maybe...this chick could know drek..."  Pulling up her message composer, she fired up her warrioress persona and fired it off.

<<Message to: Red
<<Subj: Trouble in town
<<Begin message
<<Hoi, omae.  It's Arc, the street wrench monkey what works your ride.  I ran into some trouble, and it's big.  Big enough for the whole 'hood, you hear?  Y'know that whole string of murders what be wrecking the peeps, and KE's got nothin' on it?  Awakened, maan.    Think I saw the drekkin' monstrosity last night, saw the vics.  Need help.  Know anyone who can help ID this motherslotter?
Here's proof I was there, don't open with others and when y'all are eatin'.
<<Attached: img.jpg
<<Let me know, chummer.  Next tune-up's on me.  Cheers,
<<End message

Sending that off, she fired another quick message to the distributor with her parts, letting them know she hadn't forgotten and will get them soon.  As for now, she busied herself with the car fix, trying to take her mind off of her relative helplessness in this situation.

[Tamesh]

Red sleeps in the following morning, although it's not particularly restful. All too often she hears a sound she can't quite identify, or swears she sees motion out of the corner of her eye when she looks groggily at her clock. Being back in her apartment isn't really doing much to settle her nerves. It's a little after noon when she decides to roll out of bed and take a shower, only to get back in the bed to check the news and weather on the Matrix.

The elf scrolls through her list of contacts, trying to get a handle on where to go from here. She needs someone reliable enough to keep things on the down low to keep things from getting out of hand, but who also has a handle on the supernatural side of things. She stares idly at a blank subject line when her comm buzzes, and a message comes through.

<<Message to: Red
<<Subj: Trouble in town
<<Begin message
<<Hoi, omae.  It's Arc, the street wrench monkey what works your ride.  I ran into some trouble, and it's big.  Big enough for the whole 'hood, you hear?  Y'know that whole string of murders what be wrecking the peeps, and KE's got nothin' on it?  Awakened, maan.    Think I saw the drekkin' monstrosity last night, saw the vics.  Need help.  Know anyone who can help ID this motherslotter?
Here's proof I was there, don't open with others and when y'all are eatin'.
<<Attached: img.jpg
<<Let me know, chummer.  Next tune-up's on me.  Cheers,
<<End message

Red nearly chokes on her soykaf before she even opens the image. Part of her is thankful that she's found a lead, but all the other parts are tingling with a cold sweat. The fact this thing is making itself known isn't exactly comforting. She composes her thoughts before she types away a reply.

Way ahead of you, omae. I ran up against something all too similar last night out in the warehouse district. Check these out, see if it's anything like what you saw
>>Attachment DancingMan.avi, AlleyThing.avi
I'm still trying to find out who to talk to about something like this, but if the two of us saw it I'm sure someone else did too. Shouldn't be long before there's rumors on the streets. That's what I'm counting on at least. For the time being, I'm thinking I might pay a visit to the local talismonger to see if there's anything going on with the voodoo side of things.

[Poindexter]

Duckdown hadn't been to Blinkies in ages. He doesn't care for the desperation here. The place is positively crammed full of guitar players, rappers, songwriters, DJs, and musicians of all sorts, hoping to make that big connection that will let them blow up like they've always wanted. Once upon a time, little Huey himself was one of them, a fact he'd like to forget about. As his persona swaggers his way to the back booth where T-Ball usually hangs out, he's accosted by an army of spambots owned by all the hopefulls here in the spot. Each one desperate for his attention and simply DYING for him to download an album, song, or whatever for only 5 nuyen a piece. His purpose is too strong to be distracted by these small minded little fame whores and he sweeps the messages away from him with a swat of his hand.

Once seated at the table with T-Ball, Duck gets right down to business.

"Whaddup, T? Look, I wish I had time to be more cordial and shit, but things just went sideways and I need help. I hate to come around with my hand out after everything you've done for me, but there aint no other way to say it. I need you to loan me 30,000 nuyen."

Even though he's looking at the dwarf's persona and not his real face, he can still tell how shocked the man is. "What the heck do you need with that kind of jing?"
Ducks little goblin answers grimly. "I need to hire a team of shadowrunners to find a killer. I figure at 5,000 a piece, I can get six solid heads that won't fuck around. I wanna get this done, like yesterday. Maybe you done heard about the shit goin down in Redmond and maybe you aint, but as of about ten hours ago, it became personal for me. Blood personal. I'll owe ya BIG, T, and so will a lot of other trogs for whom, this is the only kinda justice they're ever gonna see. Can ya help me out old friend?"

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc was actually surprised at how quickly she got a reply, especially given the fact that she doesn't know that terribly much about this Red girl, apart from her deep pockets and way with words.  So when her message indicator went off, she practically flung her wrench from the car, the front bumper falling to the ground with a clatter. Lifting her goggles, she sat up, viewing the message:

Way ahead of you, omae. I ran up against something all too similar last night out in the warehouse district. Check these out, see if it's anything like what you saw
>>Attachment DancingMan.avi, AlleyThing.avi
I'm still trying to find out who to talk to about something like this, but if the two of us saw it I'm sure someone else did too. Shouldn't be long before there's rumors on the streets. That's what I'm counting on at least. For the time being, I'm thinking I might pay a visit to the local talismonger to see if there's anything going on with the voodoo side of things.

Her jaw drops as she read it, hardly believing the coincidence, and the images only served to further surprise her, especially when AlleyThing was rimed with the white frost that she saw happen!  Dusting off her hands, she wasted no time sending back a voice/persona recorded message back to the other female.

<<Addressed to: Red
<<Begin Recorded message
<<No.  Fragging.  Way.   I'm surprised you didn't see my ride with that shot you took of the thing.  Or at least hear the tires as I got us the drek out of dodge. That white bit?  Frost a friend of mine put on it.  Fraag, if that hanging man didn't look like one of the vics too.  You sure this was last night?  Tch, small world.
<<All I can say is what I found with the little group I had riding along: this thing seems to mark Awakened.  You got any chummers fit that bill, WARN 'EM.
<<Talismonger?  You mean those hoops what deal in mojo'n'drek?  Makes sense they'd be up to stuff.  I got nothing too pressing here.  Need a ride?
<<End Recorded message

With that sent off, she gave a grin, a flicker of hope kindling inside of her now that there's a direction to go.  Whipping up her link again, she sent off another message.

<<Addressed to: Duckdown
<<Begin Recorded Message:
<<Hoi, Skraa'cha.  Found someone about to dig into this drek we've fallen into.  Tryin' to hook up with her and check it out.  I'll keep you in the know.  Peace.
<<End recorded message

[Poindexter]

In the middle of negotiating/pleading with T-Ball, Duckdown sees a familiar face pop up in his top right field of vision. Mentally hitting PLAY on the message, he listens as she briefly speaks.

<<Addressed to: Duckdown
<<Begin Recorded Message:
<<Hoi, Skraa'cha.  Found someone about to dig into this drek we've fallen into.  Tryin' to hook up with her and check it out.  I'll keep you in the know.  Peace.
<<End recorded message

While T-Ball is speaking, he sends a text response back to her.

<<Send Message: Arc
  <<Message: Good lookin out. Got some irons in the fire myself. I'll holler when I know more.>>

[Tamesh]

Red is already getting dressed, using the wireless functionality of her clothing to get it looking its best, when she gets the message.

<<Addressed to: Red
<<Begin Recorded message
<<No.  Fragging.  Way.   I'm surprised you didn't see my ride with that shot you took of the thing.  Or at least hear the tires as I got us the drek out of dodge. That white bit?  Frost a friend of mine put on it.  Fraag, if that hanging man didn't look like one of the vics too.  You sure this was last night?  Tch, small world.
<<All I can say is what I found with the little group I had riding along: this thing seems to mark Awakened.  You got any chummers fit that bill, WARN 'EM.
<<Talismonger?  You mean those hoops what deal in mojo'n'drek?  Makes sense they'd be up to stuff.  I got nothing too pressing here.  Need a ride?
<<End Recorded message

She sends a message back in short order, using her own persona. It's clearly an elven woman, but her features seem a little vague and washed contrasted against its brilliant red dress.

Seems like we've got ourselves a posse. I live in the apartments a couple blocks north of your garage, you can pick me up there. Mind if I invite one more? I had a friend with me when we saw the thing. Does some magic too, might be good to have around.

Before she even gets a response, she shoots a message off to Khali.

Got a lead. Seems like we're not the only ones who ran into that thing last night. If you're up for it, head over to my apartment. We're going to be asking around to see if anyone else knows anything.

[Landmine]

Before she even gets a response, she shoots a message off to Khali.

Got a lead. Seems like we're not the only ones who ran into that thing last night. If you're up for it, head over to my apartment. We're going to be asking around to see if anyone else knows anything.

Khali gets the message as she wakes up. "Be there soonest."

True to her word, Khali barely takes time to throw on her gear before showing up at Red's.

[SgtBoomCloud]

By the time the reply made it to her link, Arc was gearing up for an outing.  A zip-up hoodie concealed her ganger best and pistol, the rest of her loadout set up as last night.  She was tying her shoes as the message was received, along with the ARO with the location.  With a smile, she sent a quick reply as she swung the garage door open.

<<Message to: Red
<<Null sweat chummer.  I know the place, pick y'all up in 3.  Dig the persona.

Pulling her car out of the garage, she locked up, sending a quickfire message to Arachnid as she zoomed off.

<<Message to: Arachnid
<<Rack, I got your bike still.  Out on a lead for you know what's.  Use this to get your bike.  Please don't touch anything~
<<Attached: garage door.exe

Satisfied, she zoomed out of her street, making it to Red's apartment building in no time.  She pulled up outside, honking her horn twice.  While her hoodie and jeans were....relatively clean, she was a mess.  Stray hair lay strewn in a wild bedhead where her goggles and headband didn't hold it, and scuffs of diet were on her cheeks and arms.  Quite acontrast, likely, to the pretty Red...