[SquirrelDude]

Slobbertooth nodded. "It's been about 10 years now."

Slobbertooth frowned, thinking about what they had done with Mike the Mercenary. "It really is a shame that I decided to let our bait just walk around freely, without any way for us to track him. Oops."

[SquirrelDude]

Slobbertooth pondered on their problem for a bit, and then threw out some theories to the rest of the group.

"Alright, so here is where we sit. We have an expert hacker/decker and his sidekick of unknown ability that we need to draw out into the open. He still works in this city, but we don't know how to contact him, at least not in a way that would avoid raising suspicion.

"Even if we assume that he knows we picked up his two mercenaries, he doesn't know how much we know. He may have access to the Lonestar database, or at bare minimum was able to access Wilcox's private security system. He'd probably be able to access one of phones if we took it out from under bnc's watchful gaze for a little bit.

"Maybe we should alert everyone we know, and who would have interest in this case that we'll be attending that kid's party? Hope that he also decides to crash it?"

[Volker]

"what do we need Woden for? He's only a hired assassin? Maybe I could somehow infiltrate his link though. What do you think?"

[SquirrelDude]

"Considering that I'm trying to find the person who killed the Willows, he seems like a pretty obvious get. No harm in just bypassing him and going all the way up the food chain, though."

"We're still going to need to get him close to you so that you can cut through all the noise."

[Sabato Kuroi]

"If this Woden is any good, and I bet he is, he will assume we 're going to the party. I say we start preparing for the infiltration OP.As for your question bnc, we must get him before he gets us.It's a cat versus mice game."

[SquirrelDude]

Slobbertooth nodded, and looked at his clothes, and then looked at Torrent and Krestov.

"Oh crap, I'm going to have to comb my hair and put on a button down shirt, aren't I?"

[Volker]

"In that case, we can't afford to lose time. We shouldn't have more gear online than necessary. I can't check everything 24/7.
If we do want to contact Woden, Torrent should do it in disguise.
In the meanwhile, I'll try to find out more in the 'trix."

bnc once more dives into a matrix search, focussing on two more topics: the decker, and the modified SUV.

Under the assumption that the leads with Thorin's family and so on brought nothing new of interest.
Do we still have one of the mercenaries' commlinks? Usually bnc takes every 'link she can get hold on but I'm not sure whether I/she did it this time. If we have it, I'd try and find Woden's contact details there.
Matrix search: 13d6t5 4

[Jack_Spade]

This time the search went considerably faster since bnc had a lot more to go on.

The hacker lady elf was good, but not an outstanding player. What she had going for her was some serious hardware.
Her handle was "Geri" and her matrix icon resembled a rainbow colored she-wolf.

She did solid work for covering her tracks, but seemed to be a bit vain: At a certain secret hacker host, bnc found whole conversations of her, boasting about her experience and social life.
This way bnc was able to create a profile with likely hang outs for the elf lady. As far as she could deduce, Geri liked to spend her Friday nights at a rave club called "Hot Bucket"

The SUV stayed solidly out of the picture, but bnc was able to narrow it down to two shops that could have done such modifications: One was a Vory run establishment in the barrens, the other a freelancer dwarf called Irmgard Schmotzki, located just outside the city in NAN country.

[Sabato Kuroi]

"Don't worry Slobber, I don't think we'll get in as guests...though combing your hair is never a bad idea. I think I will be taking  bnc out for a drink this Friday. I will need Matrix backup and she probably fits well in a rave club.In the meantime, the rest could find us a way to attend Thorin Jr.'s  party as janitors,cooks etc. Or you could visit mr Schmotzki and ask about that SUV."

  In order to find appropriate clothes for a rave club  :Fashion check: 5d6t5 1

[Volker]

After sharing the info with her team, she produces one more suggestion:
"Maybe - Just maybe, I don't think so - if I could get into the hosts of the car vendors, we might find something useful. I mean, in the interior system, they might have data stored about who bought what when. There might be useful info to get her. At least, the risk is lower than going somewhere and asking questions.
Apart from that, I'm with you, Torrent. I'm not a wizkid, but I can do some modifications on my own to disguise myself. But I better let you do the talking. I'm no good with anything that has feelings. Urgs."

[SquirrelDude]

Josiah agreed with Torrent's suggestion. "Yeah, it's best you two go to that rave club. I don't think I'd really fit in.

"Just make sure that bnc is able to keep her head clear while she's in there."

We can go visit the mechanics when you two are done.

[Volker]

"Jeez, viejo, why do all people think doing drugs is turning one's brain into porridge? I guess, I can think faster than all four of you joined together, when I'm on weed, and three times as face on Golden Mirror. You can trust me to choose the right chemicals for the right occasion, sempai.
All right, so first the club, then the hack. I guess, I'll make myself pretty then."

[SquirrelDude]

"If you and Torrent are going to the bar, it looks like Krestov and I are playing HTRT. I'll go prep the van."

[Jack_Spade]

"And the LORD said, ‘If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."

(22:9-14)

Seattle, May 27th, early evening

The Hot Bucket resided inside a nondescript industrial area, surrounded by tall commercial buildings with few doors and less windows.
A bouncer and a small AR tag next to a heavy steel door were the only indication that this was one of the hottest underground music temples in Seattle.
The bouncer, an orc in black leather with a visible armored vest and a taser nightstick idly picked his nose when Torrent and bnc made their appearance. They seemed to be here early, since no other guests were currently visible.

[Volker]

bnc changes her fibre-optic hair into a series of thorns in the colors of the rainbow, ending in a strand of hair that falls openly over her back. Her wifi-controlled chameleon skin on her neck forms into the shape of the tattoo shown below. The lips are prolonged into a joker-like maniacal grin (though only roughly an inch per side). bnc wears a black leather miniskirt, long boots, a belly-free, shoulder-free T-shirt with a neon-green font saying "tame me if you can" and some cheap colorful plastic jewellery she bought in the afternoon (bnc found it rather challenging to find something in her wardrobe that is not entirely black). She made her face up in the way of a party-addicted teenage girl (which you remember she is).

When they arrive at the Hot Bucket, she bites her lip. "You sure we shouldn't come back in like two hours or three? Seems there ain't a lot o' party in there, and you don't wan't me getting bored in a party temple, you won't!"