[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena remains standing at the wall near the rear door while listening to the others talk.  It seems that something is not altogether right about the mage and it is disturbing the others.  Yelena carefully drops her hand to the pistol in its holster and loosens it......just in case.

[gilga]

“Leonard, I sensed him “ Marco say and with his most sympathetic look he adds “It is nice to put a name to the emotion, You loved him, he spoke to you about mana and how if people can become aware of it they can feel connected to everything alive. I admire you for attempting something like that, do not feel bad, I seek the same thing ever since I came to my senses I wanted to please people, to make them happy - to make them feel what I feel. This connection to anything alive - I thought that if they could experience the world as I do they can understand that happiness is the true wealth.”

He sighs “... but unlike me, you can actually make it happen. You are brilliant and have the technical expertise. Yet, other people do not feel that way. It is frustrating that they don't.  ”

Marco eyes are bright and his voice is charming the fantasy of people understanding each other is filling him with life. “... but Leonard was not into spiritual advancement not into the joy of life, he had plenty of resources and still wanted more. He could not sense that connection and if he did he alienated himself to it. I do feel connected to all living things and it is not hubris to try to share this gift, this is my only passion in life - to see and understand the world... and to make others see the world as well.  I truly admire you for trying to achieve everything that I ever wanted in life but at a grander scale.

I can only use my own gift to help people sympathize with each other to bridge over their fears and prejudice and help them experience the world in ways that they never thought possible. I hope that with experience, compassion will grow. Having people feel these emotions at a global scale - this  is truly remarkable.”

Marco sighs “But we are not on a date and can not spend the entire night sharing the desire to change the world. Spirituality has its place and it is not tonight, I got excited." It takes Marco a moment, he closes his eyes as if trying to visualize the fantasy of people actually feeling connected to each other and unable to harm one another. The world would probably turn into one eternal  summer of love, with illusion magic replacing mind altering drugs - or actually with mind altering drug - who would possibly refuse the gift of magic.

Marco then adds "Something is missing in your story, you speak about patents and experimenting but we found you imprisoned by people from the other side of the law. People that only respect the IP of people that they can't just violently rob. How did you get to the wrong side of the law? You are a critter of light - a respected researcher in normal circumstances we'd been lucky to even be able to briefly speak with you.

Why are we here? Leonard has a secret - a dark secret and you know it. Something you know is important enough to get you killed. Perhaps you know something that can destroy his company. Your body guards - they were pointing their guns at you, they were organized crime. Not the kind of people a person in your standing would ever willingly associate with. They were prepared to kill you to prevent escape -  think hard - why would Leonard murder a brilliant and famous researcher. What is he so afraid of? You know him better than all of us, you must know.“

[ismilealot]

Dana looks at Marco with an amused snort and says, "Wow, you are way over-dramatic about being lucky to talk to me. I'm a scientist, not Maria Mercurial. And as to the rest, well, give me a few minutes to think. Because I thought Leonard was on the up and up. He is the CEO of Soft Tech after all. And as to dark secrets, there hasn't been one I've worked for that didn't have them." She shrugs and sips her tea and sits back down, nodding thanks at Firefly. She thinks and says, "Looking back in light of my escort, I think Soft Tech may be a front for organized crime. Asian companies are very insular. So, I didn't question that my staff was mostly Chinese. But, this was different. Thinking back there was always a group within a group sort of thing that didn't quite make sense given their respective jobs. And that group had an obedience that bordered on feudal. Like you read about Orientals having way back in the day."

@ Tusks Chesh comes to you an says, "That spit in 'ere eye. We've been owing 'em fer awhile now, and with the mess we saw at 'at scene, 'ey'll be busy to busy with the cops ter notice the vans missing. 'atter says you did some fancy work getting yer out an kept a cool 'head." She nods her head in cheerful approval. "We got 'caf iffen yer wants a cuppa." She looks up at you expectantly, and for one so small, she is clearly not intimidated by your size.

[gilga]

"Well she is Maria Mercurial for me..." thought Marco, "Scientists are are the light in the darkness" . Marco poured himself a glass of tea and nodded to Yelena. When he got her slightest attention he established the mindlink to share his emotions with her.  Some things are difficult to say -  they may be interpenetrated differently there is a culture and language gap a gap of values of faiths. Marco feels that this is the only way he can reassure Yelena about  his emotions. The communication is not entirely verbal - this is the uninterrupted flow of emotions and thoughts - but a reasonable translation is this. 

"My love, words cannot describe the emotion I have for you and some things never changed. I gave you everything that I can wholeheartedly and completely. I confessed my love, I invited you to move in with me and I said that I will follow you to the gates of hell not knowing if there will be a way back. There is nothing more than I can add and even the tiniest dose of manipulation and seduction will destroy it.

It is difficult to accept, I understand it but what I am asking is a chance to let you down. So far I was true to you every step of the way. My passion is real, my love is real and it is difficult for me to accept - the passion that flamed all these people on the bridge I could only channel it because they were reaching for their guns, because I wanted you safe.

I gave you my lust, my love and my loyalty I confessed my love, suggested that you move in with me and agreed to go to the gates of hell with you. This is everything that I have - even if it is just for a few days and I'll have to study a lot. 

My doubts are about myself and what might become of me if I fail to satisfy the daemons within and I feel a deep desire a desire that is new to me. I want to learn, I need to understand and I feel that my own soul is at risk. If I do not figure things out I might become someone that in unworthy of love - a monster and I do not want to ever be a monster. I think that you can relate, you were monster once and you managed to stop - but not all people are that powerful. I do not know if I am that powerful.

I cannot repent for what I did to firefly as I cannot gurantee that it will never happen again, I cannot commit to stop conjuring given our line of work - a situation might come that I have to do it. I cannot forget what I know, what I sort of always known. The only thing there is to do is to explore this relationship, to study all I can about the connection between a summoner and a spirit and to understand why my spirits are doing their best to ignore my intention despite the fact that I think that I treat them with the respect they deserve.

I even made Pasta, my favorite food to a Daemon - and he was not interested, I hoped that my passion toward good food will give it appeal even to spirits and I was wrong. My spirits become darker and darker over the years and I need to understand why . That thing that I did to Firefly - I do not want it to ever happen again and it may be a symptom to a much bigger problem I need to understand this is not about our connection, if any our connection is what makes me brave enough to stare evil right in the face and demand an explanation."

Marco drunk his tea and waited for the response, he hoped that now without the barriers of language and culture he could reach out for her and reassure her and bring his scary and somewhat doubtful lady some confidence about their connection. One thing Marco was certain about, he did not want to manipulate Yelena with magic, to say sweet things just because they'll make her feel better because once you go toward that path it is very difficult to keep it real. Every single relationship Marco has is some sort of an illusion where Marco plays one role and the other person plays another. Yelena, and Arc are the only ones that Marco do not try to constantly please that he tries to be himself even if his actual personality - once stripped of magical influences is a bit annoying and not particularly brave.

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena looks about the room and notices that Firefly has not returned and the talk is getting important.  She walks to the garage and looks in to find Firefly at the soykaf machine.  "Psst.  Hey, decker mage.  Mage talking.  Should come back in room to listen.  Help make plans.  Come on"  After seeing that Firefly has heard her, Yelena walks back to her position against the wall of the back room, listening to the others talk.  Her hand is still in the vicinity of her pistol, but it does seem that the mage is not about to strike out at this time.  If she does, she might make the same mistake others have made before her by thinking the Keeb assassin is not the real danger.  Certainly there are better killers, and magic can do horrible things, but Yelena is a master of her craft and knows that bullets can stop spells and kill sorceresses.

She is interrupted by the unexpected sensation of the Mind Link spell.  She turns her head partially to look at Marco as he begins talking, yet not completely, keeping part of herself focused on the mage.  She does not interrupt Marco's thoughts, but waits for him to finish.  For a moment, her mind is almost numb from what he has said and she is troubled for a response.  Suddenly it comes to her that sometimes it is better to say nothing.  She walks slowly over to where he is standing and takes his face in her hands, interrupting anything else he is doing, and gives him a simple kiss that should say all she needs to say.  Afterwards, she just takes his hand in one of hers and stands silently next to him, allowing the shadows that have been waiting in the corners to creep forward and envelope both of them in an invisible blanket of armor.

She finally allows herself one thought back.  **Pasta?  Maybe it was the wrong sort of pasta for that demon.**

[Shaman_Yuri]

Well that just happened...

Yelena's urging managed to coax me back into the room with the rest of the team.  While the priest's company wasn't exactly high on my lists of preferences at the moment, they were discussing the mage and data was going ungathered while I pondered just how much abuse one could subject hot water to.  If my current cup was any indication, these strange Americans never met a molecule of H₂O they felt deserved any respect.  I crinkled my nose in disgust before bringing the undrinken beverage with me into the room with me.  At the very least, it warmed my hands and provided me something to focus my eyes on instead of that.

Yelena-sensei and the priest lip-locked isn't really something I wanted to see right now, so I avert my eyes and focus instead on our prize...and conundrum.  What to do with her?  I drop to seiza near the woman and meet her eyes once settled, trying to fathom what's behind those cagey orbs.

[gilga]

Marco returns the kiss sometimes no words are needed, feelings are enough. Actions, and Marco feels that his apology or explanation were received. Seeing Firefly enters the room Marco cuts the physical display of affection short. He nods at Firefly and ask “Perhaps you could solve it, you are brilliant yourself - a company that is a front for organized crime, magic drugs for research ends up in a club in the same city with personal freely exchanging hands - I'd imagine the two working together - Dragons and Stardust - but then THIS happen and some shadowrunners intercept the transport and extract a key figure - are we witnessing some power play between rivals in the same organization? rival organizations? what is going on in here - we need to understand. Can you figure anything of that out? Perhaps do some data magic and connect the dots?”

[Shaman_Yuri]

Connect the dots, eh?

Well okay...

I sigh as I feel the weight of so many eyes on me.  I'd listened to much of the conversation as I stood on the other side of the sheet - I have pretty good hearing.  I missed some stuff, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what was shared.  Now to dig a little deeper.

"Dr Wallace," I start as I keep my gaze on the woman's face, "you've spoken a lot about the drug and your current mess, but the dots before are these events are missing and I can't see the picture yet.  Texas A&M&M alum.  Doctorate in investigational thaumaturgy from MIT&M.  More patents than I have socks.  You certainly didn't need the money.  History books?  No, it doesn't add up.  I haven't finished reading your dissertation yet, but even I can see you had several promising leads regarding novel reagents.  You had far safer ways to get a Nobel than this and are more than smart enough to have seen that."  I cock my head to one side to visually demonstrate my very real curiosity.  "MacKenzie-san, you are me twenty years from now and I know damn well I wouldn't have gotten caught up in all this.  What are you really trying to prove?"

[SgtBoomCloud]

As everyone started to chime in, Arc put a hand to her head and started to back off.  The details...so many details, and she should have been able to sort through it all.  She could tell she was having difficulty...and was thankful that she had a team to handle this info, and professionally too.  Backing off a bit, the mechanic started scanning the room for her shirt, having forgotten where she tossed it to to bandage her ribs.

As she backed up and looked, she almost bumped into the troll driver Tuskaloosa.  "Ah...frag it, sorry omae.."  She muttered before tottering by, stopping after two more steps to steady herself, propping against a wall.   Frag me, my body just wants to sleep..

[ismilealot]

"Far safer ways of getting a Nobel?" Dana cocks her head  at Subaru and says, "Maybe. But, nothing worth having comes without risk. And the world of academia is far more cut-throat than you can imagine. We start out pursuing knowledge for knowledge's sake. And every single line of inquiry always starts out with curiosity. But, then, you find it. The question that if you can answer it, will become the groundbreaking research on an entirely new school of thought. But, if you've discovered it, then five other people have as well. And if you can answer it, then they might answer it faster. And scientific inquiry mixes with pride, and a CEO offers you everything you need to find the answer and he's no worse than any of the other bastards you've worked for." She shakes her head, "And, I really didn't know. I know it seems impossible that I didn't know. But I didn't. I spent almost all of my time and energy on the project. I even slept on the premises. Leonard would have to drag me away for a vacation twice a year. Once, he even took me out to a." She pauses, a look of shock on her face and says, "By the great dragon! I know what Leonard was after!" There's a look of horror on her face. "There's a group of scientists working on a bomb that is bio-selective. They're working on a way to selective target things like ghouls and bugs. But, at the conference it became fairly clear that the work can potentially target any species, and could be used for bio-terrorism. But, the Chinese have never been terribly concerned with human rights." She shakes her head, reminding herself to stay on subject. "Well anyway, the lines of inquiry that I scrapped, and Leonard re-assigned, all selectively targeted certain genomes. I was trying to identify the things that could awaken each meta-type since I discovered fairly early that the different genomes had vastly different responses to the same drug. But, if you combine my research with theirs. You could mass target a sub-species!"

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena is only partially listening to what the mage says as most of it is completely beyond her capability to understand.  One facet is extremely interesting, but she shelves the thought when she sees Arc struggling.  She squeezes Marco's hand and drops it to go to Arc's side and hold her up.  "Yelena know Arc strong.  Yelena know Arc not need help.  Yelena know all that already.  So no need Arc say.  Yelena just ignore anyway."  A bit fearful of causing additional pain to her Srui, Yelena just offers an arm to support her.  She knows that Arc does not believe in her concept of the shadow, but she wills it to envelope both of them, to do what it can to help her friend.

[Shaman_Yuri]

"The White Plague," I muse, thinking back on an old novel I once read about targeted viruses.  To my teammates I may seem detached, cold and calculating, but not only is that my nature when following a line of reasoning but honestly I have nothing to lose in the event of a world-ending event...well other than my soul to that damned demon but I'll deal with that when it comes.  I glare again at Marco a moment before returning my gaze to Dana.  "Who do you imagine he'd target?  And would it be for real or blackmail?  Is Leonard sapiens sapiens or another variant?  And while we're on the topic, which sub-species target would threaten you, Dr Wallace?  Your childhood is intriguing...namely because the record is rubbish.  A well crafted but imperfect fabrication.  Who...and what...are you really, Dr Wallace?"

[gilga]

" From the summer of love to the white plague" thinks Marco " He say bitterly "Think about Chekhov's gun principle, Atom bombs were used, biological and chemical weapons were used, the great ghost dance was used - history is full of weapons of mass destruction committing enormous atrocities"  Marco approaches Arc with Yelena and say after a short silence "I am sorry for your loss, I know you loved that Ford I could sense it when you drove it - You'll feel better in a few days and can use my share to replace it with another car you'll grow to love over the years. You orchestrated a brilliant job it could have been in the trids."



Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.
— Anton Chekhov

[Duck N. Cover]

     Tuskaloosa propped up a section of wall beside the door: her most achievable task since folding the unnecessary privacy wall/blanket.  She felt a pang of guilt at watching Arc trying desperately fight injury and distraction to figure the riddle their target represented, but there was just too much she didn't know; so many names and connections that the other others on the team recognized that she was hearing for the first time.  It was one thing to bring in a fresh pair of eyes on a jigsaw puzzle, but this felt more like a repair job on a half-fragged drone armed with a box of random bits and pieces: she had no clue what the finished drone was supposed to do, so anything in the Bits Box might be important.  For all she knew even the junk box itself was a vital part that shouldn't be overlooked...possibly even the only usable part in a pile of red herrings.  She sighed.  There was just so much that she didn't know, she didn't even know where to start.

Arc had tried to wave her in closer: she had ansered with a shake of her head and a polite “I'm good.”  She had overstepped herself while Arc was negotiating with their hosts and was determined not to undercut the mechanic's authority again.

She did send the other rigger a message:
<This interrogation was in progress when I got here...I'd take a recap if you're up to it.  I think it would make us look disorganized if I asked and got it in front of her.>

The reply was quick:
<Disorganized?  Omae, we got that covered.>
The message contained an AR loving cup.  An arrow pointed to it: <Here's the Trophy for that goal...  >
<A recap huh?  Not a bad idea.  Makin' one for you might let me catch somethin' I overlooked.  Hang loose a sec.>
 
“That spit in 'ere eye,”  Yelena's diminuative shotgun beamed as she approached.  “We've been owing 'em fer awhile now,”  Chesh growled as she finished wiping her hands on a shop cloth, “and with the mess we saw at 'at scene, 'ey'll be busy to busy with the cops ter notice the vans missing. 'atter says you did some fancy work getting yer out an kept a cool 'ead.” She nodded approvingly.  "We got 'caf iffen yer wants a cuppa. ”

Normally she wouldn't go for soykaf so late: caffeine insomnia was a pain.  She instead nodded at her host: if the 'cup' offered was dwarf-sized it would be a drop in the bucket, and if troll-sized...well, she doubted her head was going to meet her pillow any time soon. “Sure.  Think there's a cup for Arc too?”

“Yer Iron Lady?”  The gnome shrugged. “Iffn you ask me, she needs more 'n a 'caf'll get er...but can do.  Be right back.”

“Thanks.”  She turned back to the rest of the room: to Marco's attempts to stroke Dana's pride and ego. To Firefly's current chess match: making argument and counterarguement with bits of data.
   To Yelena, who seemed to have taken on the role of goalie as she kicked Marco and Firefly back into play whenever they strayed from the room too long.

     To Arc's stubborn vigil. 

     When the mechanic began to step back, Tuskaloosa was relieved: everyone else had a chance to step out...and couple of minutes off her feet wasn't going to make her look bad.  That relief turned to worry as the human continued to pull back, looking around...and nearly tripped over her.
     Arc muttered an apology then took up the troll's wall-supporting task nearby.

<Soykaf is on the way, Arc.  And don't worry about the recap.>

The troll turned her attention to the interrogation.  For Arc's sake, get this over with already!

Dana was defending her current position, describing the rat race known as corporate research. Suddnely, she swore. “I know what Leonard was after!”

Tuskaloosa's blood ran cold as she listened.
How easy?  How easy would it be for some Humanis lunatic to justify the extermination of all trolls?  They're only five percent of the population.
...A drain on society.  Dangerous.  Smelly.
Just too damn big.

And after that?
The next outlying group.  Haters will be haters...

There were no lack of fingers willing to pull the trigger on such a gun; that there were scientific circles talking about how to craft the parts made her sick to her stomach.

“Who do you imagine he'd target?”

Firefly's words brought Tuskaloosa out of her thoughts with whiplash speed.
“And would it be for real or blackmail,” she continued.  “Is Leonard sapiens sapiens or another variant?  And while we're on the topic, which sub-species target would threaten you, Dr Wallace? Your childhood is intriguing...namely because the record is rubbish. A well crafted but imperfect fabrication.  Who...and what...are you really, Dr Wallace?”

Firefly's last question made no sense.  What would the doctor have to hide?  She was Human, right?  Part of the largest group?
A group that could be broken down though:  if it was possible to target a particular meta group thanks to a Meta-unique gene, a group of humans that shared a gene unique to them could be targeted the same way:  like all lefties.
...And all red-headed lefties.
...And all red-headed lefties with green eyes...

Oh drek.

<Arc, if what Firefly says is true, sounds like our guest is full of drek.  There's no “could be used for bio-terrorism” if her record is a dummy: it's real enough to scare her.  Why?  Sounds like it's to keep someone from making a bio-bullet  rather than a bio-bomb:  a killer with just her name on it.>

[ismilealot]

Chesh brought Tusks an Orc sized mug that she had on a platter, and sugar cookies! And behind her trailed a girl all of a half-meter tall with a second tray. Chesh hands you yours and then motions with her head to the girl to go to Arc. "Yer didn't say iffen yer took cream an sugar so I brought a bit just in case." Looking over at the girl she gives her an encouraging nod as she see's her offering the tray to Arc shyly. Looking up at Arc with big eyes she says, "Mum says this is for you." There's a human sized mug with a bright daisy happy face painted on it holding a cup of soycaf that smells like heaven. And the sugar cookies beside it are the icing on the cake.