[Mercy Merchant]

Hmmmmmm.  Belagio.  Normally a bit out of her league, but Yelena has heard of the place.  It is supposed to be trying to give some of the other large casinos a run for their money.  The short Cheongsam that she picked up should do well.  Not enough time for the fancy makeup but that should not be a real issue.

Bang on time someone knocks on the door and she stands to go see who it is.  Looking at the security monitor she sees that Firefly has arrived first, except for Arc, who is partly there.  As she opens the door, Marco rings in as if this were a fragging conference call.  "Hey, Marco.  Welcome.  Almost start."  Oh well, better than not showing up.  She lets Firefly in and looks at the boy with her, Bootstrap.  "Come in from cold.  Not all here, so can talk about knife code first."  Yelena motions to a counter where they can toss their coats and then to where the caf pot is plugged in.  She carefully places the sax in the case and pulls the knife out to show Firefly. 

[Shaman_Yuri]

The mysterious elf woman opens the door and ushers Bootstrap and I in.  At first it seems she's alone but then I recognise Arc being projected by holo.  I hear another voice that is unfamiliar to me on speaker, someone the elf calls "Marco."

So it is Razorgirl who was playing the sax.  Wow!

"Uh," I start as Yelena lovingly puts away the instrument, "I heard you playing when I was at the door.  You...you're really good.  And that sax...is it a Conn?"

Part of me realizes I was supposed to ask for a place to pray first, but how can I miss this opportunity to bond with this incredible woman?

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc's persona gave a heavy sigh as the topic was shifted away from her concerns for her blood sister without any response or recognition, the image of the armored human crossing her arms under her chest as the door was answered.  Letting Yelena take the door, Arc responded to Marco, immediately linking him to the trid projector...or at least his audio.

"Marco, it's Arc.  Reading you loud and clear, everyone here will hear you.  Yelena's getting the door, still waiting on peeps...ah.."[/color]  She paused as she stood there in her persona form, seeing Yelena come back in with Firefly and Bootstrap.  Smiling, she offered a wave.  Seeing Yelena was taking a moment to respond, wholly absorbed in the task of stowing her beloved instrument, the mechanic seized the moment to talk.

"Nice to see yas again, Firefly, Bootstrap.  Sorry I couldn't be makin' it in person.  My Vrukart...uhh, guess you might say husband?  Nah, too formal, but you get the drift...wanted me for the day, so this is the best I can do to see you while keeping him happy.  Heh.  Either way, by the look of it, you're all set to do our thing tomorrow?"[/color]

The human's out-of-time appearance shifted and paced a bit before gesturing for them to have a seat, virtually planting herself across from them as she listened to them.

[Shaman_Yuri]

Returning the sax to its case seems to be almost a religious experience for the elf, and so Subaru isn't too perturbed when her attention is pulled to the holo.

Vrukart?  Husband?  Too formal?  I thought I knew English as well as a native, and I can throw leetspeak around with the best of them on the 'trix, but apparently street slang in Seattle is a whole 'nother animal.  Then again, I'm native Japanese and would I necessarily be able to make sense of the dialect on the streets of Chiba?

Likely not.

Well, it seems like a committed relationship at least.  If so, my respect for Arc will increase.  Fidelity in this world is a precious thing, to be celebrated wherever it is found.

I nod to Arc's fanciful image.  "It is no trouble, Metalgirl," I assure the holo.  "Marriage...or whatever you call such pairings here...are sacred.  I'm glad you were able to find a win-win."  I smile hoping nothing I said was too presumptive.

"I did look into the Green Goblins last night," I add to avoid any awkward silence.  I shoot all the data I was able to collect to the human tinkerer as I speak.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Another smirk with a small shake of the head met Firefly's comments, the image taking a breath as she tried to explain it.  "Heh...not quite so formal or big.  Y'all never been among orks much, huh?  They don't got time to fret about with details like this.  Ah..bondmate. there we got, that's what I got.  Either way, thanks"[/color]  Trailing off, she gave a nod as she accepted the data packets, opening them up as AROs around her as she flipped through them with her hands, reading up on the info and viewing what pictures she had acquired.

After a few moments, her smile cracked again.  "Well....drek.  This is really good.  Uptown formed a little band, made a gang, got some big time, made a deal with the Stardust, and then tried to get some Hez and go back on that deal for profit.  No wonder they want me to off it, they small time and ambitious.  Friefly, this is wizbang stuff"

"Nice to know that these all thugs will be finna mess us up if we get caught.  I've still got some connections with the Howlers, i'll put some feelers out to see what kinda drek they capable of.  In the meantime though, I think we got a pretty good setup.  We know the layout, how they operate, and where to hit their lab and their stash.  Unless you think we should do more, this about covers it.  More than earned your pay"  The rigger's smile was genuine as she nodded, folding up the AROs and storing them in her side belt pouch for later.

[ismilealot]

Bootstrap takes several steps forward. caf seemingly forgotten in his fascination with the holoprojection. "That's wiz!" He says in awe He'"Just like the trid!" He's lost for words the moment he realizes that now the attention is directed towards himself.

[Shaman_Yuri]

Having been a native on the 'trix since I was three, the idea of seeing it fresh amuses me.  Although Bootstrap runs astral, which I've discovered is just as cool in its own way, I suppose the 'trix would be fascinating to the uninitiated.

Feeling a little impish, I jack into my Erika but keep to AR since it looks like Razorgirl is about to say something and I wouldn't want to miss a better understanding of the intriguing elf.  Keeping entirely local so as not to incite GOD, I hack into the holo projecter and bring up my own anthropomorphic Firefly avatar next to the barbarian tinkerer.

"It is wiz, isn't it Bootstrap!" my life-size avvy agree with a grin on her insectish face.


The avatar looks something like this...

[gilga]

Marco looks at Ginny, "We made quite a lot yesterday with some other money I made before it is enough to get you started in some apartment. Tomorrow I want you to start finding an apartment of your own. I could do a house guest, but now that we are emotionally involved this is too much and too soon and I need my privacy.  You have all the skills in the world to find a legitimate job, this is what I'd do if I were you. You are not cut up for my night job.  I'll transfer 6k nuyen to your account and we are even. If you are interested in a job I can also do something for you but it will not be prostitution."

=====

In the meeting he say "Alright tomorrow night, do we have any plans? are we brute forcing our way in or do we impersonate one of them? "

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena stops as her hand is opening the hand-crafted case for the sax.  She is so surprised that she remains in that position for a few moments before standing back up and looking with great interest at the young woman.  "Firefly know Conn?  Yes.  Sax is very old.  Still sound good.  Yelena careful."  She tentatively holds the instrument out.  "Firefly want touch?  Play music?"

[Shaman_Yuri]

I position myself to keep Bootstrap and the avatars in view while also being able to give Razorgirl my rapt attention.  The Firefly avatar's movements mostly use an algorithm I'd developed to make the image look lifelike in a mixed insectile/human manner without constant concentration on my part.  Other than providing words, the thing should keep Bootstrap occupied for at least a minute or two while I attend to what appears to be my best chance to get closer to this intimidating mature shadowrunner who already has sparked my imagination so.  I imagine there is so much she can teach me and I want so much to be her student!

I nod at her question about knowing of Conn brass.  "My...father played the tenor sax.  His was a Conn and so I recognised the imprint.  He was so proud of it.  I have no idea where it is now..."  My voice trails off and I try to surreptitiously wipe away the tears that the memory elicited.  By holding out her precious saxophone to me, my thoughts are distracted. 

Me?  Touch?

"Um...are you sure?" My hand tentatively reaches out to caress the smooth curve of the bow, but I am hesitant to actually take it in hand.

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena notes the sadness in the girl's voice.  "Firefly father still play?  He teach you?"  When the girl hesitates, Yelena nods and moves the sax closer to the decker.  "Here  Play if want.  Yelena go get knife while Firefly play.  Then show code knife."

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc blinked and raised a brow as the anthropomorphic insect materialized next to her, seeing the eyes of Bootstrap's light up with wonder.  "Heh...tell ya what, Bootstrap.  You wanna be able to do something like this? We get outta this mess, I'm gonna make you a list of the tech you'll need to do it. It ain't much, so null sweat, aight?"

As Firefly went over to interact with Yelena's sax and Yelena stepped out, her tone grew a little serious as she answered Marco's question, crossing her arms once again and closing her eyes.  "Brute force ain't gonna be an option, omae.  Instructions were specific that they wanna make the job look like an accident, and more than a few bodies will raise questions, amirite?  Here's what I'm thinking..."

"We start with a distraction...maybe get a guy inside to fuel it, Marco?  Once their attention is away, we'll get a few of us inside.  I'll have to be there to set the lab to blow, that's the primary thing to do and must happen.  As bonus, we gon' try to crack that safe and make off with whatever we need as a bonus.  They won't be needing it"   She flashed a wicked grin, and gave a little shrug.  "That's all bonus though.  If we get made and needa kip out, that idea we can scrap.  Anything you wanna suggest?"

[gilga]

Marco say, "If you have pictures and know their routine we can arrive like 10 minutes early to replace the guards while we ourselves are disguised as the next shift.  It will give us like 10 minutes to set things up before we need to stall and no violence... how about it? 10 minutes early is nice deed but not suspiciously too kind"

[Shaman_Yuri]

I don't know what to say, and my mouth is so dry that I don't know if I could do any more than croak anyway.  Looking into the elf's inhuman violet eyes for confirmation of her words, I nod and move my hands carefully under the bow and along the body so that I can support the weight of the precious object.  As she transfers the instrument into my hands I cease paying any attention to my avvy and let it just stand in resting mode, letting my Erika handle all the necessary processing for natural movement.

"I've only played an alto sax a little bit," I admit shyly.  "I'm a little better at the tenor, but my best instruments are violin and the piano."  Still, with Razorgirl's encouragement I tentatively place the reed to my lips and make a C note to check tuning.  It's been a lifetime since I played anything, and even longer since I touched an alto sax, but I've performed enough times that I have the "show must go on" attitude.  I have an audience and by Allah I will do my best!  Once I have the feel of the keys, I start in on my best rendition of "I Got Rhythm" by Gershwin.

Performance- classical instrument: 8d6t5: 2 [8d6t5=4, 5, 3, 2, 4, 3, 4, 5]

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena gives Firefly an encouraging nod and smile before turning away to go into the living area.  When she returns she has a long dagger in her hand.  Moving to the girl, she waits for her to finish her piece.  "Was nice.  Need practice, but Yelena tell Firefly know instrument."  She takes the sax back and holds out the dagger hilt first.  "Know Vory?  Russian mob.  Knife give to Yelena by Vory man.  Is code.  Not easy.  Want try?  Yelena not good enough, but can work Firefly to break?"