[Siren]

Sept. 15, 2074; Busan, Korea

The Summer months have finally passed you by.  The heat was tolerable; it's the humidity that really gets to you, especially if you sport cyberware.  The stickyness just doesn't come off some days.  A pleasant Fall is now upon you.  The acid rain is thankfully sparse and the acid snow is still months away.  The national holiday of Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival, is three days away, and Mudang, better known as shaman, all across the peninsula are preparing lavish ceremonies to welcome back the departed spirits of the dead. 

Not all is quite so peaceful, however.  Religious conflict has been ever-present in the news.  An extremist sect of Catholic believers, The Sisterhood of His Persistent Hand, has recently been cast out of the official Church by Pope Gruumsh III; a sect headquartered firmly in Seoul.  A number of prominent Mudang have renounced their beliefs, either converting to this new sect, or simply disappearing without a trace.  People have remained calm, so far, but as Chuseok draws nearer, an uneasy sense of urgency takes the place of the cool Autumn breeze.  Without the Mudang to guide the spirits of departed family, many are concerned they may not be able to find their way back.



As you sit in your apartment, mentally processing the events of the last few weeks, checking with various contacts and accounts, you become aware of a new message having recently arrived in your public facing comm.  Checking it, it is a simple text message, sent by an elven man you recently met but didn't get a name for. Well, he met you, anyway. Real curious about your eyes; asked a lot of annoying questions.  Apparently he got a at least some details on you, or he couldn't have sent this message.

"So, I couldn't help but notice that you're geared a bit on the militant side.  I recently heard about some work you might be interested in.  Real inexperienced girl, probably doesn't know drek about negotiating.  Magician too, so she's probably swimming in Nuyen.  Missing persons search, pretty straightforward.  If you're into it, just head to the AR coordinates I've included with this message. Looks pretty off-grid, even for Jeju, so be careful, but not too careful.  If you show, I get a commission.   The meet is tomorrow.  There will probably be others hired, too, so don't go shooting anyone who shows up.

And hey, we gotta meet again. I never met a razorguy before, I've got more questions.  I'll buy."



As you wander the floor of the latest party you've managed to get yourself invited to, your commlink sends an alert just as you engage the host in a rather interesting bit of gossip regarding a scandal surrounding the latest popular Girl Group, The Wonder Trolls.  Feigning attention, you see that the message comes from a good Fixer friend of yours; something regarding a job.  Details are brief: Missing person, remote Jeju location, potential for a pretty hefty payout, and great potential for further bonuses.



You toss and turn for hours in bed.  Tonight is particularly bad.  You feel your brain baking in an awful fever dream and your cyber-implants feel as if they are on fire.  As you drift between this world and the world of dreams, you become aware of a foreign presence inside your mind. It fights to remain and struggles to send a message.  You get no words, but do feel an intense drive to travel to a sacred mountain present on Jeju Island as soon as you can.



A trid message comes in late tonight.  Flipping it on, you see a middle-aged Korean man, human, no apparently cyberware.

"Good evening. We have a mid-level contract, and have been directed to you. The client is a shaman on Jeju-do Island.  If you are interested in taking her job, please be present at the supplied coordinates tomorrow evening.  I understand there will be other potential hires, so expect company.  The work is simple; investigation of a missing person, important to the client.  Payment is negotiable, but expect it to be more generous than is typical."

The trideo cuts out abruptly. 



Your commlink blinks with a message from Choon-Hee.

"Got something that might be up your alley. Another Mudang has gone missing, this time a big-shot one down in Jeju.  Lots of people are pretty upset.  Going to be a big payout for this one, if you can pull it off.  I sent you the meeting place, be there tomorrow if you're interested.  Let me know how it goes, and if you appreciate the heads-up, maybe consider tossing me a finders fee?  Kekeke, just joking, mostly."



Resting at home, you feel a distinct presence in the room.  Peering into the Astral, you spot a large white moth fluttering around your head.  As you open your mind to it's thoughts, it alights on your extended finger.  At it's touch, you can feel its message seep into your mind.  An urgent need for help, a mountain deep down south, a tight time limit, and a promise of reward.  This messenger was sent to find you, and having done so, it dissolves back into the metaplanes from whence it came.

[gilga]

Another sleepless night... Ivory woke up, alone; the apartment was cold and dark. The TV was active discussing the recent crisis, damn Catholics she thought to herself. She had no formal religious believes but she did believe in something. She just could not put it in words, when magic is part of the world – what sort of things are divine? She had no answer to that.
She was almost disappointed that Ji-min was not there, but she quickly came to her senses. She had a terrible headache, it is that damn control rig - it messes up with the spirit world.  Since her awakening, she became increasingly aware that the augmentation takes away something as it makes magic more difficult.  She did not remember any details about the call, but was excited to work for someone with astral capabilities astral messages always felt more personal as they appear directly in your head and interact with your emotions.

She spent the first hours of the morning summoning and binding – she should have done so in advance but was too busy. The last weeks were terrible, with nightmers, sleepless nights and fever a lot of fever. But it was now morning and she felt alright. She had a job – and hoped for a nice nuyen injection.

A spirit to defend me – I definitely cannot leave before that. She performed the rituals, summoning and binding – to the outside viewer it seemed as if she negotiated with an invisible entity. At noon the negotiation was over, the she had a spirit on her side. She felt protected; the spirit was satisfied she was satisfied. Now for our little adventure – she thought.

 She was a little nervous … so she took a long shower and then wore her best dress – something that will boost her confidence. It was a modest dress that leveraged the current trend of neo classical fashion. Cloths in a classical figure, but with high tech fabrics that vibrate and change their color according to the body temperature.

She combed her hair and rumbled a periodic Hebrew song, something from her past life – she did not remember the words, just the rhythm.  She felt the sting as magic rushed through her body, the hair turned out great, the face blushed, and even her voice became softer and more attractive.  *Now* I am fully dressed, she thought. She did not feel fully comfortable without the tingling sensation of a spells inside of her weak body. It was a bit distracting, but she liked it.

She was ready to go out, she packed her deck and RCC in her purse.  Her drones were already safely packed in the car. Before she left her apartment she took a last look to see that she did not forget anything.
The apartment was a mess; definitely need cleaning,  bills piled up on the kitchen table… so many bills…   I need to make some nuyen before the end of the month. No question about that, but now for a fun drive! Her car was parked in the street; Local gangs knew already not to mess with it, as it is always defended by drones that never sleep.

She set at the back sit, and plugged her control rig into the car. She became the car; she could almost feel the wind, the speed the excitement… the freedom to be in a body that is actually capable of physical feats. The headache was gone, the magic was gone, and it was just her and the road.

Gracefully maneuvering the streets, she arrived to the port and bought a single ferry ticket to Jeju Island.  She parked her car on the ferry and waited for a short while. Once the ferry departed, she watched the sea and the city. After a short while, she got bored with it relaxed her mind and her body went dull.  To the untrained eye, she was sleeping, but her mind left her body and went into the astral space.  Her mind traveled fast, a lot faster than the ferry – it took only a short while and she was already on the island, scouting it for astral entities carefully examining their auras. Climbing the mountain, looking for the meeting place.
She never understood why distance works so differently in that world - but she liked it. She felt free, she felt happy. She knew that the headache will come back as soon as she is in the meat body, but at this point she was free as a spirit.

[Sabato Kuroi]

Baro  wasn't surprised by the contents  of the message.Try as he might, he couldn't pass for a tourist.Not to the trained eye.And even if he could he wouldn't bother trying.He needed the nuyen, the contacts.
He instinctively started packing his weapons,and it took him some time before he realized he knew nothing about the port's  security measures.So close to Japan, maybe he was becoming sloppy.
He had to remember, he wasn't Baro anymore.Seattle's shadows were Sabato's birthplace.

He went back to the public comm.

This is Sabato.Should I travel light?

[Malevolence]

James thought for a moment after receiving the message. It was out of the ordinary - Whisper usually arranged the meets - but not unprecedented. Sometimes he provided James commcode to clients, but in those cases he always called first. He'd have to deal with that in the morning - it was late and Whisper was cranky if you called him at this hour.

Speaking of which...

He called up the time with a mental flick of the wrist. It was later than he'd expected, and so he dropped out of his handstand, removed the weights from his ankles, and folded up his exercise mat and placed it neatly against one wall. He gathered up the rest of the work out equipment and stacked it next to the mat, then folded down his bunk from the wall and got ready for bed.

He was awoken the next morning with the now familiar call from Whisper. "You have a job. The client will call soon with details. Pay's good, so I suggest you take it. I've included the ferry pass for you." The call terminated.

James siged and got out of bed. He folded it back into the wall, ate breakfast, showered, and packed. Since he'd be gone for a few days and didn't know what he'd need, he took everything in the duffel bag, arranging the items so that the illegal items would be missed if the bag were searched. He then went downstairs to the garage, grabbed his bike, and headed out. The docks were predictably busy, but he was able to weave through much of the traffic - one of the advantages of driving a bike over a car. Once his bike was parked on the ferry, he grabbed the duffel and found a locker to place it in. He activated and positioned an RFID camera to keep an eye on it - just in case - and went to enjoy the ride.

The main joy of riding the ferry was that a couple kilometers out there was no smog. It was a close to fresh air as James had ever been, and it was amazing. The ferry ride took hours, and James planned to enjoy every second of it. Out of habit, he watched the people around him, wondering what they were heading to Jeju-do for. And he realized suddenly that some of these people might be heading there for the exact same reason he was. He started to watch more closely as he wandered around the ferry, hoping to pick them out.

[Siren]

Hmm... if you're the paranoid type, maybe?  Really, the border between the mainland and the nation proper is looser than an Itaewon hooker.  Just don't wave the good shit around and you should be just fine.



You glance around the ferry to see a few people milling about.  Mostly locals, a couple foreign tourists sightseeing, nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

[Csjarrat]

Flea throttled back, dabbing at the ailerons to keep the wings level as the crosswind tugged at the MKII spitfire, making her landing significantly harder than the previous training mission.
Lowering the landing gear, she extended the flaps to maintain lift at the low airpseed and crossed her fingers as the last of her altitude bled away.
She kept a hawkeye on the windsock, allowing for the temperamental breeze and put the wheels onto the grass landing strip heavily. She bounced, her chin rattling off her chest and she cut the throttle, kicking the rudder to slew the nose back around as her bounce levelled out.
She came in heavy once more, skipping to a halt at the end of the short runway, panting as the groundcrew rushed over and the menu screen loaded in front of her.
She saved her session and logged out, happy that she hadn't crashed this time round.
A message awaited her, a shining orange beacon against the cool blue of the grid, opening a new VR terminal, she dumped it's contents into there and read it out before replying.
//<<Choon-Hee>>//Thanks for the tip, sounds like my kind of job. Got any more details so I can turn up to the meet well prepped?//
 

[Sabato Kuroi]

Sabato didn't  bother replying.He got his packs and exited the apartment.Even though he'd been staying there for a couple of weeks the only signs of human presence were the sheets on the bed and some unwashed dishes in the sink.


It was easy to find a cab.The driver, an enthusiastic male ork, tried to start a conversation  about the weather but soon came to the conclusion that his client was not really interested in small talk.He probably thought  that this  stone-faced human was  Yak, with his black suit and sunglasses.He had watched too many trideo films.

Sabato didn't mind the driver's babbling about Busan's humidity.He was bathing in sweat but  unless the weather  posed an immediate threat to his health or the functionality of his 'ware he  could endure.

He reached the port and got on the ferry.

[ScytheKnight]

Yako blinked, both physically and mentally at the dissolving spirit, shaking her head in a momentary befuddlement. For all her attempted training as a Shinto priestess, she just didn't understand spirits, the Astral was just another world she had a foot in but didn't belong. She closed her eyes, trying to relax a bit, absorbing the message. There was no doubt it was meant for Yako, very few people knew Hira Nosan the Matrix Gamer and sister to the almost famous Matrix Gamer Kimi Nosan (another world she didn't quite belong in) was Awakened, much less ask her for help in such a vague way.

As she mulled things over she became aware of a faint buzzing sound, her fox ears twitching to locate the source before she realized it was the humidity messing with her datajack again. The upgrade to Alphaware had been worth the money, her old datajack would be giving her headaches in this weather, but even still she had to ho get the cleaning kit again, spending the next half hour carefully cleaning the outside connectors.

Yako was finishing up as her keen years picked up the sound of familiar footsteps approaching the door just before Kimi bust into the room.

Kimi - Japanese: Hay sister, I won! I won!

18, mundane, a natural in the matrix and completely human. Kimi fit, something Yako occasionally felt a twinge of jealousy about. Even without the magic Yako didn't really fit in normal society with her fur, fox tail, fox ears and vertically slit eyes, and most who didn't mind thought it was the result of extensive cosmetic bioware rather than a SURGE. Still, Kimi was her sister and Yako needed to provide for both of them, thus a double life in the shadows.

Yako - Japanese: Kimi that's great!

Kimi - Japanese: So sister, ready to team up with me at the weekend?

The weekend? Shit, this is going to be a mess

Yako shakes her head

Yako - Japanese: I'm so sorry Kimi, but something's just come up. I'll need to head out of town for a few days, maybe more.

Yako watches as hints of disappointment, confusion and suspicion flicker across her sister's face. A gaijin would never have noticed, but family always knew what to look for.

Kimi - Japanese: Hira? Is everything alright? Maybe I should come too?

Yako - Japanese: Everything's fine Kimi, stay here I'll be fine and I'm sure you won't have trouble finding a second to replace me.

Yako had worked the shadows long enough to know Kimi was a natural born decker. But here, in the normal world, she fit just fine. No matter how jealous she was of that, she wasn't going to ruin that for her sister and drag her into the shadows with her.

Kimi - Japanese: OK sis, just keep in touch. Where are you headed?

Yako - Japanese: Down south a ways.

Kimi - Japanese: Alright sis, please be careful.

A long hug later and Kimi spun out of the room leaving Yako alone, she stood ears alert until she heard her sister's footsteps leave the area. When things where clear she started to get ready, grabbing a locked bike travel case and packing her gear carefully, the guns and ammo stored in the hidden compartment at the bottom, then her armored jacked at vest before filling the rest with mundane items. Hopefully anyone searching would be satisfied at finding the armor and not pull the case apart and find the guns, she had a fake permit for the taser but the two Ares pistols where highly illegal here in Korea.

With everything packed she changed into her bike racing armor, carrying the case in one hand and the helmet in the other as she headed out of the apartment and down to the basement carpark, her DNI making calling elevators and dealing with spam a hands-free task. Finally she reached her bike, a sleek hybrid engine Suzuki Mirage and attached the carry case to the back behind the seat. Putting the helmet on she wirelessly started the engine and started the long ride south. Here, stepping into the shadows was about the only place she felt she could fit, if only because she fit nowhere else.

[gilga]

Before leaving to scout the Island ivory noticed the aura of not one but two magically active people on the boat. Not just magically active, strong auras those are extremely rare in the general population. Can there be two other awakened in the same boat? Can it be a coincidence?
She carefully scanned the entire boat... there was another unusual aura, some kind of street samurai - heavily augmented... There is no way it is a coincidence to many rare events. So many augmentations must have cost a fortune. She wanted to reach out and say hello but was afraid to do so.

She used her matrix skills in order to perform a data search, trying to attach faces and names to the auras. One of the auras she seen before – he is probably from my neighborhood. There is no way this guy is a cooperate employee with this kind of talent one can afford a lot more. The other two auras was unfamiliar one very strong and the other very weak. 



She did some matrix searches, trying to attach a commlink to the aura. The awakened are dangerous people; one can never be too careful. A street samurai?... these can finish me off in a single blow I can't just say hello some of these are completely paranoid.

It took her half an hour but she was almost sure what commlinks to call. She was also quite sure these people were not after her. (as much as she could say from their visible backgrounds).

She routed the message through 10 different devices all over the world and sent it:

<<“ Yako, James and Sabato... It is a nice day isn’t it? The sky are almost totally blue! … Amazing isn't it?... to discover such a gem only half an hour from port? … Are you skilled enough to find me? … I have a feeling we are going to work together in the near future… I would have introduced myself – but I am not 100% sure about it – you can call me IT for now… and feel free to text me back”   >>

I am such a creepy person doing background checks on people that MIGHT work with me just by the fact they are magically active. Why can’t I just introduce myself and say hello like a normal person? The terrible thought surfaced with images of her dead team. Normal people do not survive for long in the shadows – most of my friends will be dead within the next couple of years.  Heck, I barely survived my first couple of missions.
If they are skilled enough to find me... Then I will introduce myself otherwise it is best not to grow too fond of the unskilled - these do not last for long.

She missed her cooperation so much at this point she almost cried, but not anymore. She gave that life away - for love... false love... there is no going back.

[rednblack]

"Very few contracts are iron-clad," Soraya says to the host, a well-dressed ork with eastern dragon shaped lapels and a bright, almost garish, elecrochromatic tie.  "I just hope that the Wonder Trolls don't fall into the trap laid by so many acts before them.  Switching management is one thing, expected even if one is to make it to the big leagues, but too often the gains are fleeting and the harm to one's rep is already done."

She checks her comm and feigns disinterest, swishes her synth-tini, and takes a drink.  The liquor is good, if soy-based, but pretty top notch for well, with the juniper flavoring tasting almost like the real thing.  Her host answers that so long as the existing manager can be "convinced" to allow the Wonder Trolls to renege on their deal, he sees no reason why this wouldn't be a good move for the group.  "Very interesting," Soraya replies.  yawn.  Soraya sets her Voice Modulator to coy, finishes her drink, and says, "Please excuse me, I think I may be due for a refill.  I sure hope this doesn't go to my head," and with a wink, she's back off to the bar, composing a message to Hando.

<<@Whisperer [Inanna] I'm interested, natch.  Send me the details, and I'll be on my way.>>

Upon receiving the necessary intel, Soraya makes her way through the party, saying her goodbyes, and trading comm-codes with a few of the party-goers whom she feels may come in handy at some point.  She's sure to find the host, and thank him personally for the invitation before heading downstairs, hailing a cab, and heading to the ferry.

---

On the ferry, Inanna heads to the stern, produces a cigarette from a case held in her garter belt, and waits for another ferry-goer to offer a light.  She thanks the young man graciously, and inhales deeply.  There will time to scope out the passengers, but for now, she wants to take a minute to herself, steel herself for the job, and listen to the waves.

[Csjarrat]

Curious to see if there were any big cases making the news or something sinister that was being kept off the main wires, she booted her search suite; its light blue frame complementing the cool blues of the surrounding grid.


//<<Matrix search>>//
Tags: -Missing person report, -Jeju, -Famous
Begin trawl.......

[ScytheKnight]

Yako didn't know where she was going, but her instincts where guiding her in the right direction, after a time she rides up to a ferry terminal, rolling her bike carefully aboard. Her armor was drawing the occasional glance but one look at the bike and looks where replaced by nods of understanding... then again her tail was stuffed down a leg and her ears tucked under the helm. She got her bike into position and linked the alarm to her secondary comlink she was using now, the SIN stored on it was a solid fake along with the licence for the bike and a taser.

There was a private moment of mischievous glee when she removed the racing armor helmet, Japanese women with red hair are rare, ones also sporting a pair of fox ears draw startled glances, a few people going almost bug eyed as she adjusted the seat of her armor to let her red furred, white tipped fox tail free.

Well, at least I'm out of the stink of the city for a bit.

She stood at the railing, taking a deep breath, taking in all the scents...  <<“ Yako, James?... It is a nice day isn’t it? The sky are almost totally blue! … Amazing isn't it?... to discover such a gem only half an hour from port? … Are you skilled enough to find me? … I have a feeling we are going to work together in the near future… I would have introduced myself – but I am not 100% sure about it – you can call me IT for now… and feel free to text me back”   >>. To say Yako was startled would be an understatement, in fact it was probably only the fact she froze rather than jumping that he didn't go overboard.

WhatthehellhowcouldanyoneknowwhoIamandthatI'mhere... alright Hira, calm down, breath. They said they where on this ferry so they must have spotted me, likely wasn't my appearance though so how could? Ohh... someone Awakened? But how could they have messaged me?

Yako starts shakily trying to run some kind of a trace on the message, but her thoughts are so scrambled that her language settings went though half a dozen changes instead before settling on some bizarre hieroglyphs while completely scrambling her iconography. Muttering to herself in Japanese she start trying to fix it all, even with the DNI it takes her several minutes to get everything back to normal.

Shaking her head and giving up on that rout she decides to try and follow the example of this mysterious 'IT', leaning back gently against the railing she relaxes her mind letting the astral open up to her she scans the people on the ferry, looking for any exceptional auras, a slight frown of concentration as she also maintains the DNI while doing so ready to attempt some cross referencing of her own.

[Sabato Kuroi]

Sabato is sitting on the deck.He is not paying any  attention to the rest of the passengers.The sea holds his interest until his commlink notifies him that he has a new message.At first he stiffens up and instinctively  scans the deck with his cybereyes.

After a while he texts back

"I hope this is not an attempt to show off.You lack  proper decorum."

Or maybe I do.I am, after all, a stranger to this land.

[Malevolence]

Casually scouting out the ferry, James makes note of a few interesting people.


One man wore a black suit with sunglasses like he worked for the mafia, and moved as if he was a trained killer to boot. James kept his distance from that one - after watching him for a few minutes, James decided that the man must have a significant amount of cyberware - his arms remained unnaturally still when they weren't doing anything, and while the man was sweating profusely in the heat, dressed as he was, he barely seemed to notice it.


A ... woman? Person? Female? He wasn't sure how such ... people? ... chose to be identified. He decided to just go with the typical gender descriptions. So, a woman with very - he mentally cringed at the double entendre - foxy characteristics was also on board. He couldn't tell if it was some sort of surgery that had provided them - he had heard such things were common across Japan - or if they were the result of one of the many magical transformations that had swept the globe. He had considered that she might be a spirit - apparently some of them could appear completely real rather than unmistakably Astral - but as he watched her use her devices it was apparent that she had a direct neural interface, which he was certain spirits could not manage. Of course, she seemed to have enough trouble with her devices that perhaps he shouldn't rule that possibility out after all. In any case, he was virtually certain that she made him as she in turn watched him with more than a casual curiosity. If she didn't make the first move, he would have to stop by and say "hi", just to see why she seemed fixed on him.


He was more than a little concerned that his captors might have finally found him - he was reasonably sure that Ares was behind his abduction, and if this was some surgical job then his assumption about a Japanese origin could be a dangerous coincidence. But he tried to relax his fears - after all, if they didn't want to spook him, having an agent that stood out so much would be a poor way of going about it. No, he expected that the organization behind his captors would be good enough that he'd never see them coming until it was too late.


He also noted a car he'd seen around his neighborhood on occasion. On the surface, it looked like so many other Americars he'd seen, but this one stood out due to its constant retinue of drones. They tried to be discreet, but they were more out of place here on the ferry than in the city, and once he saw one, it was easy to spot the others when he looked. He had no idea who owned it, but he'd certainly be keeping an eye on it to see if he could catch the owner coming or going.


And lastly he caught a rather stunning looking woman that was dressed to kill. She didn't strike him as a runner, but she was certainly worth looking at. It wasn't until she turned around that James nearly fell over. Soraya! They'd dated a while back, when her family was in the North, though they'd hated him, and forbade the relationship. Not that that had stopped them, but when her family moved out of the country - something about her getting in to some prestigious college or some such. He'd thought that he'd never see her again, and while he could circumvent any physical barriers her parents had attempted to put up, the distance combined with some corporate enforced Matrix blocking finally meant that they lost touch.


Then, shortly after hiding out in Busan, he'd run in to her. He'd been on a job for Whisper - some item grab at a fancy party - and had managed to schmooze his way into the event. He was working the room, trying to fit in and inconspicuously work his way toward the elevator to the floor he needed when he came across a familiar face. It took him a few seconds to place her - even though it had only been less than two years - but she beat him to the punch. The conversation was awkward, and not just because of their past, but because they were both trying to maintain cover identities. But eventually they said their hellos and agreed to meet later and catch up.


After learning that she had been working in the shadows for over a year, James had introduced her to Whisper. They'd worked on two or three jobs together since, but it had been nearly three months since they'd seen each other, and James hadn't remembered her looking this good. It had certainly been too long. Putting the other people of interest on the back-burner, he walked up and struck up a conversation. Soon, it was obvious that Whisper had recommended them both for this job but had neglected to mention that fact to either of them. What that meant, he had no idea, but he'd certainly ask later if things didn't become clear at the meet.


After chatting for a few minutes, he received a rather disturbing message on his commlink.


<<“ Yako, James?... It is a nice day isn’t it? The sky are almost totally blue! … Amazing isn't it?... to discover such a gem only half an hour from port? … Are you skilled enough to find me? … I have a feeling we are going to work together in the near future… I would have introduced myself – but I am not 100% sure about it – you can call me IT for now… and feel free to text me back”   >>

James was displeased at the vagueness and the hidden source. As Whisper was prone to hand out James commcode, contact from unknown people was normal, but usually they used a fake identity rather than trying to hide it. And who was Yako? Could this be another runner? Soraya hadn't been contacted, so if it was, it meant that somehow he'd been spotted and she hadn't. In that case, it might be better if they weren't seen together so that perhaps Soraya could have a better chance at maintaining her anonymity. They said a brief goodbye and James again wandered off to look over the ferry.


Perhaps it was the fox lady - she had taken a keen interest in him earlier. But considering how he'd seen her fumble with her commlink before, it seemed unlikely she could pull off such a feat. Unless she'd only been pretending to have difficulty for his benefit. But when James went to confirm, she seemed to have gotten the same message and was looking around suspiciously.


And again, her eyes fell on him.

[gilga]

"I hope this is not an attempt to show off.You lack  proper decorum."

Ivory quickly typed a replay -
<< I am not the 'hack and tale' type of girl, these do not last for long. From my experience if you think you are 'that' good you have one leg in the grave already. I am too old to brag, if I was 'that' good I wouldn't have been working still at my age... you seem calm... I like you already.
Obviously, if I went to all that trouble just to message you,  I *Want* to talk to you.  I have send an horizion flying eye your way. You can follow it if you want to meet me and some of the others. >>




Shortly after you notice the astral signature over the cargo area of the ferry where all the cars and heavy equipment lies,
there are only two astral  signatures in there... and only one metahuman, the other one is a spirit. 

You receive a matrix message: << I am flattered... it is not that hard! Take a look at my own search history.  You see, the majority of the people have posted something in the matrix about either a trip to Jeju or have public records indicating that they either work on the ferry, work on the Island, live on the Island. Or have relatives on the Island.
There are about 15 that apparently have no reason to be here. now... this is the hard part... she sends her a list of 15 names including herself in it.

I bet you can already know my call sign by my initials ... it took me a while to trace these 15. It will take me longer to explain how I narrowed it down from there - but no problem we'll get there sometime if you are interested.
 
If you are getting paranoid, about 50 meters above you there is an horizon flying eye drone - I always keep them hoovering above- just in case.  Unlike other drones, these draw less attention when deployed >>
 

 
<<James ? I see you already met the charming Inanna... I really like her (but it doesn't narrow down the list of who I might be).  Stop looking at my car... just come to say hello already... neighbor>> 
 

The flying eyes spotted a familiar person it was Inanna.

She was invited to all the super hot parties Ji-min took me to. What a charming person ... I am almost sad she is here.  I wonder why she did not get herself a nice cooperate job. She is *definitely* management material.  This simply cannot be a coincidence to spot her in this place at this time.

<<@Inanna - Hey omae!  This is Ivory, I haven’t heard from you in a while. I must say I am a bit disappointed to see that you are on this boat today at this hour.  I kind of hoped you had a more *safe* profession… but I cannot say I am surprised.
I have organized a meeting with the people I think are our colleagues… at least the one I could discover.
You would not believe *how* I got this gig… there is so much I want to tell you.
Anyhow, you can probably guess where I'll feel comfortable … Looking forward to seeing you.  Kisses, Ivory. >>